Finally an update! For my long-time readers, I apologize for my extensive absence, it was completely unplanned and unexpected for me. I've been struggling with medical issues, namely depression and anxiety, and I recently discovered that I don't actually need to be on antidepressants, which is a good thing because they completely kill my creativity. This has happened in the past and I'd hoped it wouldn't happen again when I started a new treatment course last summer, but alas that was not to be.
I'm once again off meds and even after the first week I could feel my muses returning. I've been a hell of a lot more productive and I anticipate updates coming a lot more frequently now. Maybe not every week as in the past, but certainly not nine months apart!
Rain from a summer storm pattered on the roof of the small one-room cabin in the Canadian Rockies and washed out the scenery around it, making everything seem hazy and slightly distant, the moisture in the air robbing one's perception of depth. The raindrops occasionally hit the top of the chimney and hissed into steam.
Inside the cabin Logan stirred from sleep, eyes immediately going to the woodstove where he could see only a few glowing embers left from the fire that had kept the outside chill at bay all night. Carefully, so as not to disturb his mate, he pushed back the covers and cursed when his bare feet touched the cold floor though the surrounding air was still comfortable. He built up the fire again, thought about making a quick dash outside to replenish the pile of wood but decided it could wait until later when one or both of them was dressed and it wasn't so damned cold outside.
Teva stirred when he crawled back into bed, automatically turning towards him so that her face was pressed against his neck. Her warm breath made need and goosebumps skate across his skin, his hand on her hip clutching so that she responded in sleep with a soft moan that made him become painfully hard.
With his other hand he gently touched her side on his way up towards her breasts, cupping one through her tanktop and feeling the tip already drawn up beneath his palm; it was incredibly easy to arouse her in sleep, even more than when she was awake, and he wanted to see how far he could push her before she woke up. The hand on her hip slid down slowly, under the edge of her underwear and lower where he found her already wet and open, her body responding even if her mind wasn't, and he easily slid a finger into her.
She moaned again, shifted restlessly, her hips rolling in response to his touch and he felt her mouth open against his neck.
He growled, low and quiet, pumping his finger a couple more times before he added a second one. His hand on her breast drew lazy circles around the tip, teasing her, and already he could feel her beginning to spasm around his fingers, her moans growing a bit louder and her body shuddering every few moments. He pressed the heel of his palm against the most sensitive part of her and with that pressure brought her closer, higher.
Logan knew the moment she woke up because her teeth clamped down on his neck and broke the skin as he took her up and over. Her pleasure slammed into him, too, through their link, and he was glad he had such strong control over his body's responses.
"Mornin'," he said smugly when she finally stopped thrashing against him.
"Mmmmm," she replied, her voice nearly a purr. "That was a lovely wake-up." She stretched her arms up, her eyes opening when she finished, and he watched her pupils widen when he lifted his hand and sucked his fingers clean. Her breathing, which had started to return to normal, sped up again along with her heartbeat. She bit her lower lip and then grinned, dimples appearing in her cheeks. "My turn."
Teva reached for his hand and touched the back, fingers finding the scar tissue that had built up over the decades. "Give me a claw, love," she said.
He raised an eyebrow but complied, letting one slide out a few inches. Another burst of lust shot up his spine when she guided it to cut off her underwear, the destroyed garment flung off somewhere in the cabin, followed quickly by her shirt which she shimmied out of.
"Retract it," she said, laughing softly. He was sufficiently distracted by her unclothed state that he'd forgotten to do so. He had to exert conscious control to retract the claw with a soft snakt.
She pushed him onto his back and straddled him, pressing his cock between their bodies and sliding against him with the wetness between her legs.
"You gonna tease me to death?" he asked, having to grit his teeth to get the words out.
Her answer was to rise on her knees and take him in, and even with the orgasm she'd had it took her a few strokes to sheath him completely.
"Ah, god," she breathed out, settling back down, hands on his chest. "I dinnae think I'll ever get used tae this."
"To what?"
She leaned down, capturing his mouth in a slow, devouring kiss. "How much I need ye," she answered finally. "How much I love ye, how much I want ye like I've never had ye before."
Logan tucked a loose bit of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering along the curve of her jaw. So close, even in the dark, he could see in her eyes what she'd said, what she felt that flowed over the link between them; he'd wondered if she'd ever rely solely on the bond to let him know her feelings and appreciated that she didn't, that she was as at ease with telling him what was on her mind and in her heart as she was just letting him see and feel it.
"I know, baby," he said, bringing her close to kiss her again. His eyes closed and he groaned when she broke free and began to ride him, slowly at first, her eyes locked onto his when he opened them. "Harder," he growled, gripping her hips to direct her, keep her grinding against him.
Teva obliged and picked up speed a little, too, crying out when he reached up to roll one of her nipples between rough fingers, making her jerk against him. Her nails raked down his chest, too short to draw blood but leaving pink marks in their wake before her hands rose back up to grip his shoulders hard enough that she left momentary bruises. The strong muscles of her legs held him tight and worked tirelessly, aided by her minimal healing factor, to keep up a brutal pace that soon had them both crying out. Her body arched backwards with the force of her second orgasm and she became almost painfully tight around him; his hands left marks on her hips where he gripped her while they rode out the pleasure.
She collapsed on top of him, breathing hard and occasionally twitching with aftershocks.
He stroked her back, not wanting to let her go quite yet, and in those moments where they both returned to earth, he was hit with a realization: he was content. He'd been chasing that elusive feeling for so long that he hadn't even recognized it until now, in the quiet where the only sounds were the slackening rain and the crackle of the fire; it was a warm, solid feeling in his chest where before there had been only pain and darkness, and he prayed to a god that he didn't believe in, prayed that he wouldn't lose it now that he had it.
"You wanna get up?" he asked when she'd stilled again.
"Are ye mental?" She huffed and moved off of him, curling up beside him. "It's still cold, the sun is'nae even up yet, and I'm on my honeymoon, ye numpty. Let it wait."
The blankets had gotten kicked askew with their lovemaking and now he pulled them back up, tucked her in against him with her body cradled along his arm, her head on his shoulder. Between the two of them heat returned quickly.
"It feel weird to you?" he asked, stroking her hair. "Being married, I mean."
Teva snorted. "A little, I suppose. I dinnae have your experience with it, this being my first time." Her hand lay flat on his chest, over his heart, the left with its wedding ring. "Feels strange to think of ye as Mr. Lawson when I've only ever known ye as Logan."
"That's the only name I've ever known until a couple years ago, besides Wolverine." His words took on a low growl. "An' that ain't a name I much like usin'."
She turned her head slightly, kissing his shoulder. "Ye can add 'husband' to your list of names, a chuisle."
"'A chuisle'?" His lack of accent mangled the Gaelic endearment a bit, but it still sounded like 'acooshla' as she'd pronounced it. "That's a new one."
"It's something my grandda used to call my grandmum, when I was a wee lass and they were still alive." Teva projected a sense of longing and loss speaking of the only elders she'd had who'd loved her. "It means 'hearts blood' or something thereabouts. Usually only used among blood relatives but, well, I think between the two of us we've shed enough o' that particular substance for each other."
"Sounds about right." He could hear the sleepiness in her voice. "Go back to sleep, darlin'. Ain't nowhere we need to be."
After coffee and a hearty breakfast they finished repairs on the cabin. When they'd arrived the day before the roof had been in poor shape so they'd taken care of that right away so it would be a solid shelter, saving the rest for the next day. It was mostly just patching holes, shoring up some weak points in the walls and floor. The stack of firewood against the front wall by the door needed to be replenished; Logan took care of that while Teva cleaned up inside and put away the groceries they'd brought along for their stay.
The woods surrounding the cabin were a combination of wild and somewhat tame, the latter from Logan's off-and-on efforts to create a small clearing around the building and a traversable path allowing access from more main roads. The trees ranged from deciduous to conifer and offered both shade and protection from the elements, though shade wasn't as much of a necessity with the temperature hovering in the 50s.
After lunch they headed into those woods. A hawk wheeled overhead casting a shadow on the ground. The slightest rustle of groundcover off to the left made Logan freeze and, behind him, Teva followed suit at the same moment as she'd been taught.
Both remained still a few moments more, scarcely breathing when the rustling grew louder and a doe broke through with a fawn following on shaky legs.
~Baby ain't but a few days old~ he said over the link. ~Fawns are born in the spring after the rutting season in the fall.~
He heard Teva's breath catch when the two deer stopped, the doe lowering her head to nudge the foal when it faltered.
~I cannae believe we're so close~ she replied.
~Let's get closer.~ He could feel her surprise and nearly laughed out loud. ~Just do what I do. Move slow, quiet, and stay behind them. We're upwind so they won't catch our scent.~
As one they stalked forward noiselessly with Logan in the lead, inch by inch, until they were barely more than a foot or two away. Logan lifted a hand to touch the fawn and just brushed his fingers over the soft pelt before the two deer bolted at the sound of something large crashing through underbrush.
A huge buck in a lather from running hard burst out in front of them, eyes wide and rolling, and when it saw them it bolted away in the same direction as the doe and fawn.
"Somethin's wrong," Logan said, lifting his head to scent the air. "Ain't any predators around here would spook a buck that size. Let's get back to the cabin."
When his enhanced sense of smell failed to tell him anything he reached out with something else, that sixth sense most humans have of being able to sense the presence of someone or something. It was the same kind of sense that prey animals had, an evolutionary holdover from when humans weren't as close to the top of the food chain as in modern times, when they were just as likely to be hunted as they were to hunt. Whatever it was made the skin between his shoulders itch and he hunched them, his body instinctively crouching slightly in preparation for a fight.
The door of the cabin was standing wide open.
"There's someone inside," Teva said softly, voice pitched only for his ears. "I dinnae recognize them but there's something ... wrong, with their mind."
He heard the intruder before he saw them, a sound that seemed more mechanical than human, similar to what Piotr Rasputin sounded like when he'd transformed into his steel form. A moment later he saw the reason for it.
"Kane." Logan didn't know him very well, mostly only because of the Weapon Plus project, but he knew something had changed. THe last time he'd seen Kane the other man had been fully human whereas now ... he appeared to be more machine than organic, like a cross between a Terminator and one of the Borg.
"Wolverine."
"How'd you find me?" Logan asked.
Kane smiled. "Wasn't me, actually. There's only one person who knows where you'd be."
Behind him, Teva cursed and pulled her gun from its holster at the small of her back.
~Where is he?~
~Not nearby but that does'nae mean he's no here.~ She was checking her weapon, popping the magazine out in an automatic need to make sure it was full. ~Kane's the only other person I can sense so it may just be the two of them.~ He could feel and hear her heartbeat pick up but even under the fear she was remaining calm, drawing from his confidence and her own training. He felt a slight buzz in his head that meant she was mimicking him, enhancing her senses and skills with his.
~I can take care of Kane, you see if you can get to the truck.~
~I'm no going to leave you to fight on your own~ she shot back.
Logan didn't have time to answer or argue further. Kane lifted a hand and fired with a weapon that looked a lot like Iron Man's repulsor beam but had the effect of a laser with the capability to burn, as evidenced by the now-smoking tree just to Logan's left.
He wasted no time in retaliating, lunging in and hoping that Kane's enhancements made him a poor melee fighter, whereas that was Logan's strong point. Unfortunately, it seemed Kane's strength had been increased and he backhanded Logan with a force Logan hadn't encountered since going up against the Hulk, and he landed several yards away on his back.
Teva opened fire with her XD-45, three shots that seemed to do little damage to the cyborg. She threw out a hand and found that her telempathy wasn't good against him, either.
Logan jumped back up almost immediately, winded but mostly unhurt. "I ain't comin' back, Kane, I already told Deadpool that a few weeks ago. Run back to your handlers and tell 'em."
"Unfortunately," Kane replied, "I've been given orders to bring you in regardless of your wishes."
"I don't give a shit." Logan lifted a hand, extending his claws. "I'll tear ya to pieces before I let ya take me back there. I'm done with those butchers."
Kane smiled again and it looked odd in a face that was half-human and half-machine. He lifted his hand again, this time pointing the weapon at Teva. "Even if it means her death? Honestly, Logan, I have no qualms about killing her."
Logan growled, lips drawing back in a snarl as he saw red at Kane's words. Without answering he launched himself at the cyborg again, this time clawing up the part of his face that was still organic, making Kane howl in pain and push him away.
"Get to the truck," he said to Teva, his voice a bass growl that was nearly unintelligible. "I want ya out of here, Teva, I can handle this."
"Dammit, Logan -"
"Go!" he roared, already moving away as Kane recovered.
Teva swallowed hard and finally accepted Logan's order, if only because she had her Glock in the truck and wanted the more formidable gun instead of just a semi-automatic. She could hear the fight behind her as she ran, digging in her pocket for the keys, and she almost made it.
As she was fitting the key in the lock, a hand reached around from behind and grabbed her neck.
"Hello, frail," Victor Creed purred, his breath ruffling her hair. "I missed you."
"I cannae say the same," she replied. She struggled against his hold and he let her go, but it was only to hold her from the front, still by her neck. She pressed the barrel of her gun against his side.
"Do it," he said, leaning in close to her face. He trailed one wicked talon down her cheek, leaving a pink mark behind but not breaking the skin. "I like pain. Makes me horny, and we got interrupted last time."
"Ye honestly think I'd just let ye rape me?" she spat. "Remember how that ended the time before?"
Creed chuckled. "Ya got the drop on me, frail, but that ain't gonna happen again." He jerked her forward suddenly, held her against his chest with one incredibly strong arm, and shifted her braid to the side.
She felt something cold touch the back of her neck and then cried out as whatever it was pierced her skin, pain shooting up into her head and down her spine.
"What the fuck -?"
"Neural inhibitor." Creed let her go. "Shuts yer powers off, delivers a low-grade paralytic so ya can't fight. Rather neat little gadget, don't ya think?"
"Fuck you."
He laughed again. "Exactly what I want, and exactly what I'll get. Ya might be an incentive for the runt to cooperate but yer also a reward for bringin' him in, and I plan to collect."
Teva felt like throwing up, both from the effects of the inhibitor and his casual talk of rape, reeling a bit as a flashback to their first encounter hit her full force. That time she'd had a fighting change, but now?
She realized the fighting had stopped and looked up to find Kane walking towards them with Logan slung over his shoulder, unconscious. She tried not to feel hopeless, helpless, but she failed.
"C'mon," Creed said, grabbing Teva by the arm and pulling her after him. "Let's get these two back, I'm dyin' for a beer."