"Logan?"

The Wolverine didn't take his hand off Marie's neck, but the fierce growl had become a rumbling sort of purr.

"Sugar?"

Logan blinked, slowly, coming back to himself a little. "Yeah?"

"I'm gonna need a little time to let all this settle."

"I know," he said tiredly, letting his hand fall from her throat. He wasn't surprised she wanted a little time to wrap her head around what he'd proposed. He lay back down with a sigh, one arm tucked under his head. She settled back against him, using his belly as a pillow and picking at the seam on her glove. Still nervous then. He had the urge to light up a cigar from his small cache of good stock and to take a long walk in the still woods. Not quite the embrace he needed, but soothing nonetheless.

"Sorry."

"You don't gotta be sorry, kid. It is what it is. We gotta roll with that too, you know?"

"Thanks. It's just a lot, you know? A whole new way of thinking about it."

"I guess." It was really only new to her. He'd pretty much been imagining them both naked in bed together from the beginning. A part of him wished she'd stop thinking and let it come. Just let it be whatever it was supposed to be, but he understood and appreciated that she was willing to take in — and hopefully consider — what he'd said. That tempered the disappointment, but did fuck-all for the burn in his blood. He wanted her. But he wanted her willing.

"Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you think we'd have sex that night at The Red Door?"

He hadn't expected her to ask that. He looked down at her, searching her face for his own answers. "I was prepared to tell ya no if you asked."

His reply knocked her back a little. "Wow. Cocky, much?"

"Heh. I thought we might do a little more than we did, yeah. But I didn't wantcha comin' to me outta that. Least not the first time." There was a bit of a dirty leer on his face that she found both endearing and exciting.

"Out of what?"

"Bein' wound up by watcha saw that night."

She understood what he wasn't saying. That he wanted to be wanted for himself, not because something she'd seen had made her hot.

"Would you have really turned me down?"

"I liketa think so, darlin'. I dunno though. Like you said, once the Wolverine's riled up…" He looked away. "I just dunno," he repeated, aware she could probably hear the contempt in his voice.

"Stop that."

"This where you tell me you ain't scared of him?"

"No. This is where I tell you he makes me hot. Always has."

"Jesus, kid." He chucked, though. "Did you?"

"Did I what?"

"Think we'd wind up behind one of the red doors that night?"

A blush crawled up her neck. "A little, maybe. At first."

"Just at first?"

"Yeah."

"What changed your mind?"

"You really wanna know?"

He nodded.

"I knew the minute I put my mouth on your wrist that we wouldn't be going upstairs."

Logan wasn't quite sure how to take that. "Didn't like it?"

"Liked it too much."

"Then what's the problem?"

She turned over to look at him. "The problem is you heal, sugar. And when I have that much of you in me, I heal too."

"So?" He was kind of thinking that might work out pretty good. She was small and he was… not. It was probably gonna hurt some, even if he took his time to make her ready her first. It wasn't the first time he'd imagined it that way, using her mutation to make the first time better for her.

"So I don't want to heal, sugar. I want to feel it the morning after. I want to wake up feeling like yours, feeling every last bit of what we did together and to know it wasn't just another dream."

Logan didn't even try to stop the low growl of approval that image inspired and he suddenly realized why she was so wound up about being covered the first time.

"Christ!" he ground out, rolling away from her to lean against the wall.

Distance. He needed a little distance because he was as close as he'd ever been to pulling her under him and taking what he wanted. And if she didn't stop fiddling with that thing in her fingers he was going to lose his shit. He welcomed the small annoyance. It gave him something else to focus on. Logan knew better than to reach out and touch her though, because once he did, he wasn't going to be able to stop.

"What the fuck you got over there that's so goddamn interestin'?"

The gruff question startled her and it fluttered from her fingers, the gold foil shining between them in the bright sunshine. Thick black words, boldly announcing what was inside.

Extra large. Ribbed. Lubricated.

Fuck.

The condom he'd plucked from the bowl that night stared up at him. She must have slipped it out of his jacket pocket on the way home. That got to him. That she wanted it, to hold it in her hand, the thing he used to cover himself, and think about using it with him. Jesus. He sucked in a sharp breath and lifted his head to meet her eyes. The blush was back, and this time, it went all the way down.

He grunted as she picked it up. Just seeing in it her fingers made his fire lick through his veins and pound madly between his legs. He almost couldn't hear her over the rushing in his ears. The sight of it in her hands telegraphed many things, primarily signaling her intention to use in the near future to take him inside her body. An irrevocable claim.

"I was kinda hoping to talk to you a little about this too, sugar."

Logan nodded once, trying to wrap his head around the idea that Marie had been waiting for him up here with a condom in her hand. That she'd chosen this place — the space he'd intended for the bedroom — sent a very clear message.

"Sure, baby." He pushed back at the wildness in his blood, aware this moment was setting the tone for all that would come after, as well. He wanted her comfortable in this place above all others. Wanted her to feel safe to bring anything to him and to know he'd move heaven and earth to give her what she needed, even if it meant fighting his nature to do so. And tonight, he fucking was.

"I wanted to maybe float something by you."

"Whatcha got on deck?" Her warm scent spoke to a nervous excitement.

"Wondering what you thought about maybe not using this."

He bit back a grunt of surprise as she gave the condom back to him. It carried her warmth. The edges were bent and worn and he wondered how many times she'd held it and thought of touching him intimately. Thought of this moment, screwing up her courage to ask him about it, knowing that he'd probably make it difficult for her. Logan winced, thinking of some of the things he'd said earlier. They'd needed saying, but he hadn't exactly been gentle in the delivery.

"Because, well, I don't want to. Not with you. We don't need it, at least for the usual reason. I've been on the shot for a while now. Plus, I've been working on my control and I know it's not quite even a minute, and I can't even always promise that much, but—"

Now he wondered if part of the reason she'd waited so long was to gain those few extra seconds before asking him what he thought about it, and he felt like even more of an ass.

"If you wanna."

"You— you're not scared I'll hurt you?"

"Nah. Not even a little. I dunno if it's such a great idea for you, though."

"For me?"

"I don't want to hurt ya, darlin'. You're gonna need it real slow the first time. You'll needta get usedta me. Inside. That's gonna take time."

"Oh." Her eyes were wide, but her scent said she liked what she was hearing.

Cocking his head, he looked at her with a thoughtful expression.

"How big's your toy?"

"What?" Her voice was about two octaves too high.

"Your toy. The silicone one?" Her face flamed and he chuckled, holding out his hand to her with three fingers pressed together. "Take my hand." She wrapped her hand around the thick triad of digits, looking at him with a question in her eyes. "Bigger or smaller than that?"

"Smaller," she squeaked out. "A lot smaller."

"Okay—"

"Shorter, too."

"Shorter?"

"Than what I saw downstairs a few minutes ago."

He grunted in amusement at the softly whispered confession. Her eyes held a touch of mischief, though. "Gonna need a lot longer than a minute then, baby. Otherwise it'll hurt. Maybe bleed." He was bigger than three fingers.

"I don't care if it hurts if it means I get to feel you without anything between us." Strong words. Not a whisper now. "I want you in me and on me and I want to wake up feeling you between my legs and smelling like you all over."

"Jesus fuck."

He stalked to the other side of the empty loft, giving her a clear path to the steps and stood there, losing ground to the wildness with every breath he took.

"I just wanted to see if you thought it was possible."

He nodded. It sure as hell was.

"Can we try?"

He nodded again.

"Do you want to?" She didn't want him to do for her. She wanted him to want it as well.

"Now?" he bit back a little more sharply than he'd intended. He was a man on the edge.

"Soon."

"What the hell does that even mean?" A day? A week? A month?

"Means I need to do some thinking about all this. And maybe you do, too, sugar."

She was right. That was a definite game-changer.

"Mmph."

He watched her go down the stairs, trailing after her at a safe distance. Logan stopped at the hearth. Marie continued to the front door, pulling his old cowboy hat off the rack and putting it on as she turned to go. She called out to him over her shoulder.

"We good, sugar?"

"Real good."

She put her hand on the door, a soft goodnight on her lips.

"Kid?"

Almost out the door, she turned back a little, her forward momentum slowing but not stopping entirely.

"Liked whatcha saw?"

A smile teased at the corner of her mouth. "I could stand to see it again, cowboy."

"Soon," he shot back with a smirk of his own.

Yep. I totally did it again. Heh. Like I said, this chapter was the countdown. The NEXT chapter is, ya know, what comes after that. The complaint line starts over there by that hairy dude who's sporting a one claw salute. ;)

Up next: In Your Eyes. I reckon I don't even need to say it. Y'all know what's comin' next…

Also, please be advised that pretty much from here on out, we will be departing lemony and heading deep into the citrus grove. I can't imagine if that bothered you that you'd still be here after 45 chapters of it, but I thought it was worth saying again. We're about to kick it up a notch. BAM! lol