Weeks passed before Marie got the chance to talk to really talk with Logan again. She found him by the fire pit, a cigar in his hand as he stared up at the moon from under his old straw cowboy hat. The bottle of bourbon beside him only had a few inches left at the bottom.

It was late. Midnight had come and gone. The night was cold and clear. The still, quiet world glittered with silvery frost that made the serene place feel otherworldly. Logan had built a huge fire. The flames danced wildly, on the edge of out of control, licking up into the night sky, a hungry riot of red and gold.

She dropped onto the opposite bench, grimacing as the frosty seat made her shiver hard enough that her nipples drew up into tight points under her thick coat and scarf. "God! It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey out here!" Her eyes danced. "How they hangin', sugar?"

Logan blew a stream of smoke into the sky, his face hidden by the brim of his hat. "Go 'way, kid. I ain't in the mood."

Her sharp eye assessed the situation. She knew Logan and his moods pretty well. He was surly and mean, but tonight his brooding was closer to grumpy than outright rage. Marie considered her options and then shrugged. "Well, I don't give a shit. I can't listen to another minute of Jubes telling me how amazingly hot Remy's cock is and how good he is at using it. She's completely dickmatized." Remy had finally gotten into Jubilee's pants and Jubes couldn't be happier. Marie, on the other hand, had reached her saturation point. Jubes had a tendency to overshare on a good day.

Logan snorted.

"Go ahead and claw me if you wanna, but I'm stayin'. That would be less painful than hearing chapter and verse of Jubes' sex life."

"Can't be that bad. Could even be fun under the right circumstances."

She couldn't tell if he'd said that just to be contradictory because he was in a bad mood, or because he was trying to get a rise out of her.

"Maybe you want to hear about how Remy tastes and how he likes his cock sucked and how he likes her to suck his fingers after he's just—" Marie stopped mid-word at the look on Logan's face.

"Jesus."

"Sorry. I'm a little drunk still. It took three shots just to drown out the worst of it. When I finally escaped, I thought maybe a walk would help clear my head and then I saw the glow of the fire." It really was on the edge of scary big.

"Fine. Stay. But I'm warnin' ya, I'm in a pissy mood."

"Grump away, sugar. I couldn't care less. You can say whatever you want to as long as it isn't about Remy. Because I swear to God, if you do... I will take this glove off and touch you until you scream."

Fire licked up his spine. He knew she didn't mean it the way it sounded, but it had come out sounding damned good.

"You're welcome to try," he said offhandedly, the cigar clamped between his teeth. He was on the edge.

"What's eating you tonight?"

He gave her a hard look.

"Fine. Don't talk if you don't want to. I was only askin' to be polite. I'm all talked out anyway."

Perversely, that made him want to answer when he'd had no intention of doing so.

"There was this woman."

Marie rolled her eyes. "There always is." Wherever he was, there were always women. It was a part of what made things between them so confusing. Sometimes it felt like he was interested in her as a woman, and other times she felt like an obligation; something he'd promised to take care of. He flirted with her, sure, and they were very close, but there had always been women. He'd never bragged about it, but he'd never hidden it either. It wasn't in his nature to hide what came naturally. He rarely acknowledged them to her, however, and that he did so tonight made her aware he was much closer to the edge than she'd first thought.

"It was after the fights-"

"You were fighting tonight?"

Tonight. Last night. A lot of nights since he'd bathed her and tucked her into bed. That had woken something in him that he didn't know how to put out.

"Yeah." He'd needed the outlet. Needed to feel the heavy concussion of flesh impacting flesh and the satisfying crunch of bone. He'd wanted the sweat and the pain and the bloodlust of the crowd... and the adoration of jaded women who only wanted him for the fleeting pleasure he could give them. And the physical relief they could give him. It wasn't pretty, but it was the truth.

It was her turn to give him a hard look. She'd been asking him forever to take her along when he fought and he'd steadfastly refused. It was unusual in that he almost always gave her what she asked for. Except that.

"Anyway," he said, with more than a little vitriol, "I'd asked her if she wanted some air."

Which was Loganese for: We hit it off at the bar and decided to take things out back to get better acquainted.

Marie hated that it annoyed her as much as it turned her on. Logan was a very sexual person. He liked sex, and had a lot of it. She liked the idea of him wanting that much sex, she just wished he wanted it a little closer to home. It was confusing to be both jealous and aroused by his confession.

"Charming."

"She thought so." An arrogant smirk pulled at his sensual lips.

"I didn't come all this way in the cold to trade one cock story for another."

He grunted. He'd never much liked it when she was overtly crude.

Marie huffed. Tonight that was just too damned bad for him. She'd had enough.

Logan stared at her. She was nothing like those other women. It wasn't that he wanted her to remain pure and untouched forever. On the contrary, they were closer now that she'd gotten a little life all over her. He liked the miles she'd put on. What he didn't care for was the distance, the jaded cynicism without the underlying tenderness she usually had for him.

The tip of his cigar glowed red and Marie smiled, aware he was taking in a deep breath of the calming tobacco. She'd always taken a bizarre pleasure in the knowledge that she could get under his skin like nobody else.

"Things were goin' pretty good," and by pretty good, he meant hard and fast up against a wall with her nails in his back and his fist in her hair, "Right up until we were interrupted. She didn't wanna after that."

"It wasn't some jerk from the cage again, was it?"

He chuckled, pleased that of all the ways she could have responded, her first thought was to be sure he was safe. That felt good, even if her scent also said she was itching to slap him for being such an ass.

"Nah, it wasn't like that. It was just the little barmaid on her smoke break."

"Come on, you can't really blame her for not being into it after that."

He shrugged. "Didn't bother me none."

"Well, if it were me in that situation, I would've—" she stopped mid-word, suddenly aware if she ever had that chance with him, she wouldn't have cared about anything outside the circle of his arms. She would have kept going even with an audience; not because she was desperate to be with him, but because she knew what they found together would be incendiary.

A blush rose, sweeping through her hotly. It suddenly occurred to her that she'd even written a story like that. He'd likely read it. She'd never used names or identifying details, but Logan was a sharp man and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a great many of her stories were about him.

"You ain't that kinda person, kid." He was emphatic.

"I- I don't know about that. I think it would depend on the man I was with. I'm not big on restraint if I want something. You know that. If it felt right, I'd do it." She'd always been that way. Her plans to visit Alaska. Running away from home. Crawling in his trailer. Even sitting with him now. When her heart said leap, she leapt, even if she hadn't looked (even a little bit) first.

"The watchin' or the bein' watched?" He was being deliberately obtuse. The idea of taking Marie like that was making him hard. The idea of someone else taking her that way was making him want to inflict pain. He smiled darkly. "I ain't shy. Both do it for me."

"Logan!"

"I warned ya, darlin'. S'on you for stayin'."

Her full mouth thinned into a line of displeasure but he noticed, with some amusement, that she didn't leave. Her face said one thing, but her scent was saying something else. He was surprised, and more than a little turned on. Normally he'd have just let it slide, but the animal was still riding him hard. Fighting and women usually took the edge off a little, but not tonight. Tonight her flash of vulnerability only engaged the predator and his desire to play, to push a boundary he normally steered well clear of.

"Watchin' or bein' watched?" he said again, just to see the fire in her grow hotter. It was all just words anyway. What was the harm? She wasn't ready to initiate anything. He wasn't sure she even wanted to. Not really. He wasn't even sure what he'd do if she did. This strange limbo they were in was driving them both crazy.

"I wouldn't know, seeing as how I haven't done either," she replied tartly. "Sounds fun though. I'll have to give 'em both a whirl and get back to ya."

Shit. Too far. She was all bristly now, despite what her scent was telling him. More disturbing still was that he was enjoying it.

They fell quiet, the frosty silence only broken by the popping and sputtering of the fire.

"Which do you like better, sugar?"

Heat rolled through him. He thought she'd retreated. It was a miscalculation on his part. She was only rallying the troops for round two. His brow arched. He knew it wasn't right, that he shouldn't be fucking around with this particular line in the sand, but he couldn't stop himself.

Something dark burned in his hooded eyes. "Watchin'."

"How come?"

A low growl resonated in his chest.

Marie realized she must be a little more tipsy than she thought, because baiting the Wolverine in this mood was probably one of the more stupid things she'd ever done, and that list was pretty long already.

A dark look of pleasure spread across his face. "'Cause it's like watchin' porn, but better." While Logan appreciated the convenience of modern pornography, it lacked the layers that someone with his unique physicality and enhanced senses enjoyed.

"Better how?" She was definitely skating on thin ice, but she couldn't quite seem to stop herself. She could feel her heart beating wildly. There was little doubt he could hear it.

"Hotter. More for the senses to enjoy." His teeth flashed in the dark. "You said you liked listenin'. Imagine if instead of a tinny recordin', you were hearin' it live. Then it's not just in your ear, it's all over. That bass rumble of the voice vibratin' over your whole skin and makin' you shiver. Feelin' the grunts insteada just hearin' 'em. Seein' 'em writhe. Smellin' the musk."

Her eyes were very round and her scent had gone from interested to, Oh hell, yes! Just the tickle of that glossy heat in his nose was making it hard to keep the wildness contained.

"I... that, um..." He thought he'd pushed hard enough that she'd tuck tail and run. She would if she had any damn sense at all. "That sounds good, actually. Really good."

Ah, Christ. She'd always been a little hellcat. 'Rogue' suited her very well and he realized she was growing into that woman a little more every day. He was a little melancholy, too. It meant a little more of Marie, of the part of her that was truly his, was slipping away.

The more she thought about it, the better it sounded. Marie probably wouldn't have admitted it to him without the burn of tequila in her blood, but the idea was really beginning to turn her on.

"Yeah?" Nodding and blushing but very interested now. That was unexpected and he couldn't help but respond. "There's places to go for that kinda thing."

"What? Like Richard and Kitty's roadside whack shack?"

That time the amusement touched his eyes, too. "Nah, kid. Not a dirty hole-in-the-wall like that. There's swanky places for that stuff too."

"What, like a sex club?"

"Yeah."

"You go to sex clubs?" She was shocked. Shocked and... fascinated.

"Darlin', I'm a hard man on a hard road. There ain't too many places I haven't been."

"Why?" He wasn't the sort of man who needed to pay for it. She'd been out with Logan many times. He just had that thing, that aura of power women could just sense. The way they threw themselves at him was kind of embarrassing. Especially because she felt it, too.

He chuckled. "Same reason as everyone else." Her eyebrows were almost at her hairline. "S'fun." Logan caught her eye. "You're askin' a lotta questions. Seem pretty curious."

"I, um..."

"I'll take ya if you wanna go."

"What? With you? To a sex club?" Marie wasn't entirely sure she hadn't entered some altered reality where Logan thought of her as a woman and not a friend.

"Sure, why not?" He couldn't pretend his motives were entirely altruistic. The idea of watching Marie watch a sex act was already making his blood run hot... but he was thinking about her too. If she really was going to be incapable of physical human contact for the rest of her life, she'd need an outlet like that. Better her first tentative steps in that world happen with him at her side than scared and alone down the road. He honestly hoped it would never come to that. He had his own ideas about the future, but he wasn't so selfish that he wouldn't give her that experience if she wanted it.

"To do what?" She was feeling dizzy and her voice was too high.

"To watch." Just watch. He could manage that much. Probably.

"Uh..." She just could not pull it together. Marie couldn't help but imagine he must think she was an idiot.

"Afraid you might like it?"

"Afraid I might kill someone."

"By watchin'?" he scoffed. His tone was teasing, but she was painfully aware he was putting down a very clear boundary. He'd take her there to watch. Not to do anything else.

"My skin..."

"Ain't a problem. There's a no touchin' rule."

"No touching? In a sex club? Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose?"

"Heh." Her confusion pulled him back from the edge, from the darkness just a little. "No touchin' without permission. You could walk in without a stitch on, and nobody would lay so much as a finger onya unless you let 'em." He let that sink in. "'Course, I wouldn't recommend that." He put the claws out with a black smile, turning them so they gleamed in the firelight.

"Oh!"

He put the claws in and licked the trace of blood left behind on his knuckles absently.

The urge to kiss him, to taste that little copper flash on his tongue rolled through her hard and strong. She looked away before he could see it.

"So, whatcha say, darlin'?"

"I say you were right. You're in a mood tonight. I'm gonna bounce."

"Suit yourself, baby."

He smiled as he watched her melt away through the trees, very aware she hadn't told him no.

Up next: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. The Wolverine threw down the gauntlet. The Rogue picks it up…