AN: I decided this should be a chapter by itself. I am actually pretty pleased with how it turned out.
I may end this story soon, just to have it be officially done, and then consider having sequels in the same universe.
Please please review. Feedback makes me glow and write faster, but I refuse to hold fic ransom to demand reviews. So please, give me a comment or two.
O o o o o o o o O
"Scott and I are just friends," Marie began, still seeming nervous as she watched Scott walk out. Logan realized his claws were still out and retracted them quickly. She was confused internally though about the denial and why she felt the need to make one. It's not like Logan had any stake whether she was with Scott or not, but she still felt the need to deny it when he had burst in on them. Of course, they had been lying in the other man's bed, and it is typically considered rude to screw around in other peoples' rooms in general.
"Yeah, I know. He told me earlier." Logan started to walk across the room, not sure exactly how to go about this conversation. "Still doesn't mean I like seeing you in his arms, especially in my bed." It took a measure of willpower to not glare at her for that. But that would be counterproductive and he struggled to keep himself under control.
Marie just sat there, frozen. It had really seemed like he was insinuating something there, but she was afraid to read too much into it. Emotionally, she was exhausted and on top of it all, she was supremely embarrassed that he had found her in his room, mooning over him.
He paused; this was not a pleasant thing for him. He didn't like talking about things if he could help it, and it was worse that he felt like he had no privacy due to the potent telepath that lived in the mansion. He concentrated hard and thought as loudly as he could, "Chuck, I don't know if you've been listening or checking in on Marie. But I'd like some time alone to talk to her."
"Are you alright?" She watched him; he was clearly concentrating deeply on something. She saw him relax then with a nod that did not feel like it was directed towards her.
"Yeah. Just trying to get a little privacy in this nuthouse," he grumbled. "Everyone's always into your business."
Marie shrugged, "Well, we're family." She was trying to stay very neutral until she could determine exactly what was going on and where he was going with it.
"But they don't have to know every single detail of your life," he snapped, more harshly than intended.
Marie looked down at her hands, assuming he was referring to her being upset at not knowing where he was. "I'm sorry, Logan," she whispered, quietly moving to get up and flee the situation.
"Damn it, Marie, that's not what I meant! Sit back down." This was not going well so far, even by his standards. Obediently, she sat back down on his bed, hugging her knees to her chest.
He took a deep breath, again working on curbing his frustration and not sounding so pissed off, "I meant, I didn't want the Professor snooping around in here while we were talking."
"Oh." A puzzled look crossed her face, her eyes searching his, trying to determine what was such a big deal that he didn't want witnesses. Unable to figure it out, she sighed, "Can you just get it over with, because I'm pretty much dying of embarrassment right now and would really like to go back to my room."
Logan walked over and sat down on the bed near her. "Don't be embarrassed, ok? I have a habit of running off and I kind of like that you would be upset if I ran off without a word."
Marie's breath caught in her throat, "Did he just say that he liked it when I pined over him?" she thought incredulously. "Well, I'm glad I'm good for an ego boost," she said angrily, moving again to get out of his room.
"Will you stop being so fuckin' hard-headed and stubborn for a moment and listen to what I'm saying?" Logan growled and grabbed her wrist, always careful to not exert too much force.
"What are you saying, Logan? 'Cause honestly I don't have a clue right now and I - " Her words stopped when he put his hand on her cheek, turning her face towards him and kissing her.
It was tentative for Wolverine's standards, but he wasn't positive that she was going to respond and he didn't want to be too aggressive. He broke it quickly, she hadn't moved under his mouth and he took that as a very clear sign.
"What was that?" she asked in a dazed voice. He gave her a dark look in response. Her expression was unreadable and it was very frustrating to him.
"Now we're both embarrassed, so we're even," he muttered, getting up from the bed.
"That was about making us even?" Her tone was horrified.
He turned to glare at her, "Jesus, are you absolutely determined to take everything I do in the worst possible way? No, it wasn't about making us even, it was about me kissing you!"
"Oh." She said, frowning lightly. Internally, she felt like someone had just shot her up with some drug, because her head felt all light and woozy and she was feeling very disconnected from this whole conversation suddenly. "Could you try that again, then?"
He turned to look at her again, a rakish grin hiding the relief he felt. "I think I could be persuaded to do that." He moved back over to her side, kissing her again, more firmly this time, pleased to see that she was responding the way he wanted her to.
Logan stopped himself reluctantly, struggling with the decision when Marie leaned in, resisting the separation. "Hold on." She looked at him in confusion when he pulled away.
"What? Am I doing something wrong?" she said hesitantly.
He groaned softly, "God, no. You're…Perfect. But." Logan couldn't believe he was actually holding off in order to have a conversation. His baser instincts were screaming at him to screw talking and get to screwing. He didn't want to mess this up too badly though. "We gotta lay some ground rules."
"Rules? What do you mean, rules?" She was suspicious. It wasn't like they had to be careful of her mutation and she was definitely over eighteen now.
"I mean, I'm not doing this lightly, and I want you to understand that." He gave her such an intense look she shuddered, nodding for him to continue. "Ok. This doesn't mean I'm never going to leave." He saw her tense and try to hide her emotion at that statement. "But, I'll always tell you when I'm leaving, and I'll do everything in my power to come back." He watched her carefully as he asked, "Can you handle that?"
She nodded with a slight smile, "Yeah, I can handle that."
"And watch the cuddling with Scooter. He smells like shit to me." He frowned in what Marie felt was a very cute fashion, though most would think that it was fairly threatening.
She laughed, "Ok."
"And never again in our bed," he said pointedly.
Marie swallowed, blush coming to her cheeks as she bit her lip and nodded.
"Not even when I'm gone. Especially not when I'm gone." He growled menacingly.
Impulsively she leaned forward and kissed him lightly again, "I get it. Move on." There was a happy smile playing at her lips.
"I'm older than you." She gave him a look of 'duh', but he continued, "A lot older than you think." She arched a brow at him. "A lot. We'll have to deal with that, eventually, because I ain't getting any older." He reached out a hand to touch her cheek, her eyes closing as he made contact. "I want you to be sure, and know I don't do things half-assed."
Marie spoke softly, "I understand, and I am sure, as long as you can abide my rules." A look of surprised amusement came across his face. "First, I need to know that you aren't just settling for me, or doing this to spite Scott." He met her eyes as she spoke, his face now serious again. "I am a fine catch and I won't be anyone's consolation prize, not even yours." She spoke with a fierceness that Logan could appreciate.
He took her hand. "That's why I was off thinking. I don't want to hurt you and I don't want a replacement for Jean. Damn straight you are no consolation prize."
She had to restrain herself when he said that, trying to focus and continue, "You need to lay off Scott too." Logan seemed to be struggling with an expression. "He and I are friends. And he's been through hell too."
Finally Logan let a smirk free, "I'll tell you a secret. I don't hate one-eye. I just think it's fun to rile him up. I even kind of like him, some days."
She smiled, "As I suspected. Riling is fine." She reached out a hand to pick at his shirt. "No other women." Her voice was quiet, but firm.
"No other women. I told you, I don't do this half-assed." His hands snaked towards her body, really not wanting to hold himself back much longer. "Same goes for you."
She moved forward, now taking the initiative to kiss him, "Alright, sugar. No other women," she said with a wicked grin
He growled, "Are we done talking for now?" She nodded seductively as he finally allowed himself to do what he had been wanting to do from the moment he saw her in his bed.