Author's note: Okay, folks. Onward, deeper and deeper into the club. My WolverineMuse is all revved up and totally has zero fucks to give about people who don't heal as fast as he does. (I'm trying here, geez!) He's lucky I like his surly ass...

The close confines of the small space electrified them. It was Marie who leaned in and stopped the elevator this time. Waiting. Watching. Knowing with every breath he took of her that he was slipping closer to the point of no return.

"You know, I never asked you what you wanted from tonight, cowboy."

Logan snorted. "Ain't it obvious?"

Her smile was positively wicked. "Oh, no. You're not getting off that easy. Not after you put me through the wringer last time, making me ask you to bring me here the way you did."

"Darlin', I didn't make you do jack shit. Still don't." He leaned back against the far wall, head cocked. "You do it 'cause you wanna." He took a steadying breath. "And 'cause you've always liked windin' me up."

"Yeah," she agreed, slipping off her coat and enjoying the way his eyes flashed hungrily. "And 'cause I'd been wanting to talk dirty to you for years."

He felt a twinge of amusement at her playful comment, but there was a serious thread underneath.

"Wasn't dirty. Just honest."

That was closer. More right, somehow. It was naked honesty they'd craved even more than the slip of naked bodies. The last of the walls crumbling down until they were finally real with each other. Revealed. Stripped bare. Vulnerable and open and ready to stop hiding from the truth and just let the thing between them be.

"I like that." Her voice was uncharacteristically soft.

"Good," he grunted.

"So, what's your pleasure tonight? Watchin' or being watched?"

He shuddered at his own words used against him so precisely. The Rogue always went for blood. Wetting his lips as the possibilities flashed before his eyes, he shrugged. "Dunno. Depends."

"On?"

He looked her up and down like the sweet morsel she was, openly appreciating the view. She'd definitely had a specific mood in mind tonight. On the surface, she looked like a little girl playing dress-up. A closer look revealed a much more adult game being played.

"On how far down the rabbit hole you wanna go." And on what was in that fucking envelope. His curiosity bordered on painful. She knew, too, so he didn't ask just to push her buttons. Instead, he shifted to brace his arms on either side of her. Not touching, but certainly close enough for her to feel trapped.

"All the way down, sugar." Her chin came up defiantly. "That is why you picked the bad girl, right? 'Cause they wanna go all the way. Whenever. Wherever. However." She blew softly in his sensitive ear. "And where the body goes, the mind follows…"

"Jesus Christ," he growled, inflamed by her teasing and by the truth of her words. She was not wrong.

"Tell me," she urged. "Be honest with me now the way I was with you."

"I wanna find some of the hard edges, kid. Check out some of the lines in the sand we always stayed the hell away from." She was nodding. Her appearance suggested she was on the same page there. Wanting to explore some of the places they'd steered well clear of when she was seventeen and eighteen and nineteen...

"More."

"Last time we were in here, I bit ya. Hard."

She whimpered at the memory. "You licked me."

"He licked ya." He waited for that to sink in. "I still get off to that. Even after all the shit we've done together, when I reach down and close my eyes— I come back here."

"Here?"

"Here. The feel of ya in my teeth that first time. That sound you made when I put my mouth on ya."

"And then I put my mouth on you."

"Heh. Got me real good, girl. Give ya that." One Mississippi.. two Mississippi… She'd blown his damn mind. "Last time you said you didn't want nobody's eyes on you but me." He moved closer, looming over her small frame now. "That still whatcha want?"

Something wild flashed in her eyes. "I don't care who watches now. I love what we have and I want the world to know it."

God, those words felt good. Deeply profound and yet also exciting. He could feel the Wolverine rising. A growl rumbled in low in his chest. "Mates." The husky word just felt right. It was more than belonging or simple possession.

"Mates," she echoed, touching the dragonfly at her wrist.

He leaned in and he could tell she thought he was going to put his mouth on her, but he pushed the button that set the elevator back into motion instead and stepped away with a chuckle when she pouted.

"So whatcha got on deck tonight, kid?"

The elevator slowed and then bumped softly under their feet. The door slid open and he shoved the grill aside.

"Mmm… East or West chamber, cowboy? You got a preference?"

"Yeah." He did.

"Does he?"

Winking at him, she slung her jacket over her shoulder and stalked out into the club like a boss.

~ooOoo~

Logan followed, shaking his head at her smart mouth. This is what he'd imagined last time; the Rogue in all her glory. Strong. Confident. Sultry.

The womb-like atmosphere of the club surrounded them. It was different from how it had looked before. Instead of amber lights and chocolate shadows, it was like stepping into an enchanted forest at twilight. Thick, rough trunks lined the hall and above them a heavy network of leafy branches twined together to form an organic canopy. Random lights twinkled between them like fireflies. It smelled fresh, earthy and fecund like a forest after a heavy rain.

A soft wind blew and Logan smiled as Marie turned her face into it and stepped back against the trees to take it in. Music came from both directions, different and yet still complementary. A deep rhythmic thrumming that made him want to move against her.

Logan could hear other people between the trunks and in the alcoves lining the walls; half hidden by the strange, thick forest that seemed to have sprung up from the floor, like magic. There was earth and moss under his feet. Grass. Stones. Not a garden walk with an obvious path. This was wilder. Lush and overgrown, like a forest that had overtaken an ancient, crumbling city. He wondered if this was the byproduct of someone's gift, or if it was simply an expertly executed concept.

Other patrons moved between the trees. He could smell them, skin and sex and hunger. He could smell Marie, too. Ripe and lush and ready to receive him. Logan followed her into the trees, putting the claws out on one hand, hoping the pain would ground him. It didn't. It only served to sharpen the hunger. And when she saw the silvery flash, his woman's eyes glowed hotly and he felt the chains binding his wilder counterpart begin to sing with the strain of keeping him leashed.

Still, letting go now would be too easy. He wanted the struggle. Welcomed it, even.

"Darlin'—" She wasn't leaning provocatively against a tree, but peeking at him from behind one. So reminiscent of their games back home that he was momentarily struck mute. The desire to chase her burned bright and hot. Christ only knew what would happen if she ran from him here.

"Hmm… I wonder what 'living art on the canvas of the human body' means. Body paint? Or maybe a master calligrapher — erotic kanji written on the skin?"

That was a damn fine idea. "I was thinkin' maybe somethin' with tattoos, but I like your idea better."

"You would," she teased. "So is it gonna be that or the shibari?"

"Shibari?"

"The masterclass on knotting? Isn't that what Willow said?"

"Heh." Logan chuckled. "That ain't the kinda knot she was talkin' about, kid." The touch of wide-eyed innocence was even better than a Marie with enough sexual sophistication to know what Willow's suggestive summary had actually meant.

"Hmm… I guess you better enlighten me then, sugar. If you're up for giving me a lesson, that is."

Christ, she was the perfectly blend of innocence and fire. Coupled with her fresh face, he could have very easily been having a taboo conversation with the little girl who'd crawled up in his truck so many years ago. It was uncomfortable and yet also, wildly thrilling.

"I'm up for whatever you need, girl."

"We'll see."

That made him snort with amusement. "You ever seen dogs fuckin'?"

Marie shook her head. "Not unless Remy counts," she shot back, making a face at that old memory.

"Heh." Logan moved closer because he wanted her to feel the words against her skin, not just hear them. "While they're humpin', the base of the male's cock swells up, tyin' them together."

"Oh!"

"There's probably some kinda scientific word for it, but it's just nature lockin' 'em together while he comes n'comes. Keepin' 'em locked together after, too."

"God."

"S'primal thing. Breedin' not just fuckin'. The male keeps comin' for a while after, fillin' her up more and more and the knot keeps her close so she can't get away or fuck anyone else. So it's his seed that takes root."

"Whoa. Okay, but that's dogs, not people, right? You're telling me people are watching dogs hump in the East chamber?"

Her question was very telling, not just about her level of experience but also her lines in the sand. "No. But some people have canine or lupine mutations, kid. The knottin' thing's a part of that sometimes. 'Specially in the ones who can shift back and forth."

"Werewolves."

Logan shook his head. "Nah. That's just some bullshit word that ignorant scared-ass humans gave 'em. They ain't werewolves any more than I'm the fuckin' Jabberwocky or you're a succubus. Those are just meaningless titles used to describe somethin' those fuckheads don't understand. We're just, ya know, people."

"Holy shit."

"Hey, some of us can go all night. N'others got a different bag of tricks."

"Holy shit," she said again, still clearly shocked by the explanation as well as the casual comparison.

"Mind blown, huh?"

"Yeah." She took a deep breath, and he could see her brows draw together in thought. "So when Willow said the warm-up was a mixed form mating…"

"Probably a couple who can shift back and forth between human and lupine, yeah. This place is pretty well known for showcasin' unusual powers durin' sex."

"Whoa."

"That's two 'whoas' in under a minute. Too much, even for a bad girl, huh?"

She didn't answer him. Instead, she gave him a sharp look. "That's his choice, isn't it? What he wants to see?"

There was a long moment where Logan considered how best to shape his reply, but there was no room between them now for lies or half-truths. "Yeah. But not tonight. I can't watch that with you so close to peakin'. I'd—" Something so primal would make the animal rise too violently. He'd kill someone.

"Hmm…" She had an unreadable expression on her face.

"What's that look for?"

"See? Rules. Just like I said."

"Mmph."

"Another night, then?"

He gave her a searching look.

"S'fine if you don't wanna. That kink ain't for everyone. It's pretty raw. Wild. Teeth and dominance and—"

"Seems tailor-made for the two of us, sugar."

"Another night," he said quietly. He was too close to the edge already. Too unstable.

"Deal." Her face disappeared and she melted away between the trees but he could still hear her easily and god knows, he could smell her a county over. "So, I guess we're headed due west then, huh?" Her soft footfalls said she hadn't waited for an answer. Sure of herself this time in a way she hadn't been before. Fearless.

Reckless.

The Wolverine's low growl of approval rumbled into the night as he followed her. A disembodied feminine laugh filtered through the trees.

The game was on.

Up next, still no flamin' clue! Haven't written it yet. Heh. But I have Monday off from work and my WolverineMuse has some pretty specific ideas about what should happen next…