Chapter 6:

Logan threw off the sheets as soon as the alarm clock buzzed and hopped in the shower immediately. He knew that he'd shower again after working out but he wanted to make sure that he smelled good before his workout too. The whole week, he and Eve had been meeting at 5:30 to train and run which they did, but they also talked and joked. Logan could listen to Eve talk for hours. She had so many stories to share. So many lives that she had lived. He would gaze at her as she recalled living in India with Gautama Buddha and crossing central Asia with Marco Polo. Eve was grateful that she had been able to live so many experiences, but Logan could sense the heartache and sadness that she felt whenever she was talking about a friend. Logan knew that as much as it was healing to remember the people in your life, it always reminded you that they were gone.

He got out of the shower, dried, dressed, and headed down to meet her in the gym. Logan greeted her with a big grin, though she only returned the favor with a grimace. "You up for a run, today?" he asked as touched her arm.

He felt her shudder slightly and then her expression changed instantly. "Of course! Let's get to it."

They ran in silence for nearly 20 minutes, all the while Logan could see her mind racing. He could hear her heart pounding harder than it usually did as they ran and she was decidedly not looking in his direction. They reached a meadow of flowers and stopped to see the sun start to come up over the horizon.

Logan sat on a tree stump, leaning forward on his knees and grumbled, "You're awfully quiet today."

"Huh?" Pharaoh twisted away from the orange and pink glowing sky and looked at him with faraway eyes. "Oh, I guess I'm just thinking." She bit her lip and turned away from him again. Logan could smell her fear but it wasn't as though she was scared. She was nervous.

"Well, you've been telling me what you're thinking all week, why stop now?" he said sarcastically.

Eve parted her lips as though about to speak and then snapped them shut, "Nah, let's spar. I just need something to take my mind off it."

"Oookay." Logan got up and scowled as he walked a bit aways from her. "Come at me."

She breathed in and loosened her arms and shoulders, then crouched into an offensive strike pose. Logan had learned that she was a fan of misdirection and so now was prepared for it. Unfortunately for her, she didn't realize this.

She made several lunges and feinted punches but Logan avoided them as if he were clairvoyant himself. Yet, he didn't attack her. As she strategized in between advances, his eyes bored into her, confused by her own distractedness. Her eyes gazed back at him, unsure of what to do. Her frustration was growing so much that her moves became sloppy and Logan knew that they weren't going to accomplish anything while she was like this. He sighed and said, "Why don't we bring it into the mansion? Whatever's got your hair in knots isn't helping…"

"No!" she heaved. She was breathing so heavily that Logan thought she might be on the verge of hyperventilating. "Keep going!" She leaped again, this time lower and Logan tumbled over her. He growled and hooked her torso with his arm, causing her to land on her back and giving him an opportunity to pin her in the only position he knew how.

She wrestled underneath him, fruitlessly. "Hey...hey, Eve...HEY! Stop it!" She lay underneath him, sucking air in and out furiously. "What is going on with you?" he snarled. He felt her warm blood pulsing in her wrists and waves of frustration mixed with her glorious scent fell off her, hitting his nose, which also detected anger and arousal?

He leaned into her neck to make sure his nose wasn't just dreaming. As he breathed her in, his cheek brushed against the soft, sensitive skin at her neck and Logan heard her make the slightest of whimpers.

His chest rumbled. He hadn't expected for Eve to ever show signs of desire for him. He had made himself content to be in her company, but his own attraction still ran deep. His face hovered over hers as he understood what was distressing her that morning. She likes me...and she doesn't know what to do about it.

They stayed there on top of one another for an eternity until Logan whispered, "All you have to do is ask…" He let her wrists go and moved his knees off of her thighs onto the grass in between her legs, his lips still just a few centimeters from her own. Eve let one of her hands slide up to his cheek. Logan leaned into her soft palm, nuzzling her skin. She grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him down on top of her. Their lips met and Logan found that she tasted just like she smelled, of berries and spice and woods. Knowing it wasn't a perfume, but her natural flavor, was overwhelming. Eve's knees bent up to wrap around Logan's hips as he rolled them over onto his back. Her toes tingled and she sighed as she opened her eyes, and leaned up suddenly, her hand on her forehead. She leapt up to her feet, "I'm so sorry, Logan. I just-I can't." She stepped back from him in frustrated tears. "Eve, what's the matt-?" Logan asked, frantically, seeing her distress.

Eve looked at him and shook her head, "I have to go." She rushed into the woods and out of sight, leaving Logan to wonder if he had misunderstood the pleasure they had both had.

Hi there!

Sorry about the short chapter but I wasn't able to finish the whole one and thought that I would post the first half anyway. Kind of angsty, but more Logan/Pharaoh coming, along with more history is coming soon!

Please feel free to leave comments or reviews. I'm just trying to become a better writer, so even knowing if you like where it's headed is a comfort. :)