Author's Note: Here is chapter two as promised! Just a reminder that this is a rewritten version of In The Morning so it might be a little familiar to my original readers.
The strange sound is what first roused the mutant from his slumber. He groaned in annoyance, frustrated that the noise had woken from the first peaceful rest he could recall having in years. No nightmares.
Running a hand over his face, he focused on the sound knowing that once he knew what it was, he could stop it and go back to sleep. He realized the sound was breathing.
No, he thought. It couldn't be her. That had been a dream. It had been an extraordinary dream but a dream nonetheless.
It had to be a dream.
The animal that dwelled in his mind was suspiciously quiet as he turned slowly in his bed. He was met with a beautiful sight; Brown waves and milky, freckled skin framed by only his sheets.
It hadn't been a dream.
His eyes traveled up her body, enjoying the sight of the woman he had wanted for months until he came to the small smear of blood and already healed wound on her neck.
Fuck, it hadn't been a dream.
He had finally lost the battle of wills he had been waging against his animal and marked her. It was hard to ignore the sudden swell of smug superiority coming from that feral creature hiding inside.
I told you, it spoke. She is ours.
What had he done?
He had met plenty of mated feral mutants on his travels but had never been interested in their bonds enough to ask questions. He had figured he'd never find anyone he wanted to be so unequivocally attached to. He hadn't counted on meeting Jessica.
He extracted himself from the bed as gently as he could in his current state of panic so he didn't wake his sleeping mate. Suddenly, realization came over him and the weight of what was happening fell hard upon him.
He hadn't just marked her.
He had mated them to each other.
The animal had always wanted this and Logan had plenty of fantasies about marking the shockwave mutant, but he had never had any intention of actually going through with it.
Panic worsening, he gathered his clothes from the previous night and threw them on as he made his way to the door. With one last look at the sleeping woman in his bed, he opened the door and left.
—
BANG!
The sound startled Jessica awake. Wild eyes darted around the room as she tried to even out her breathing. The room was messy and foreign to her. The furniture was out of place and while it was familiar it wasn't hers. And the room smelled of liquor, smoke, and man.
Not just any man.
Logan.
So not another fantasy, she thought. She found that she was pleased by this. After months of dreaming about what it would be like to be with the feral mutant, she had finally found out firsthand.
It had been the most erotic night of her life. Everything had lived up to her even her wildest fantasies. His kisses. His touches. His bite.
Her hand flew to her neck, ghosting over what should have been an open wound but was nothing more than a rough patch of skin. "Huh." How had it healed so fast?
Why had he done it?
And why had she liked it?
"Well," she said as she looked around the room. "We are gonna have to talk about this."
But she frowned when she realized the room was empty. He was gone. She tried to think of where he could have gone - maybe one of the late-night runs or danger room sessions he was famous for - when a thought bore deep into her brain and settled like sludge.
He didn't want to be here when she woke up.
"Oh." Her voice was soft and hollow as she moved from under the sheets and gathered her clothes. "Fuck." Clearly, Logan had meant for last night to be a one-time fling and didn't want to face her as she figured it out. "Fuck," she groaned, slipping into her clothes and out the door.
She thanked her higher power for small favors when she found the hall still dark and deserted. Looking out of the window, she saw that the moon was hanging low in the sky but not a sliver of daylight was on the horizon. It was almost easy to convince herself in the dark of the halls that Logan had in fact gone for a run or to the bathroom.
But she knew that he was gone. The bathroom light had been out and the door open when she left his room and even though she didn't know how, she knew he wasn't participating in his usual nighttime activities.
When she reached her room, she slid inside and leaned against the hard oak door. The wood was cool against her back but she was flushed warm with embarrassment
A one-night stand.
They never interested her, even in college when her best friend saw a new guy every few weeks. Maybe it had been a fear of her voice alerting her partner to her being a mutant or the lack of connection she would have with that man. Whatever the reason, she had never partaken in that particular sexual pastime.
Until now, she thought ruefully.
What was it about Logan that had made her completely lose her senses?
He wasn't even her type. He was too rugged for her usual taste, all muscle and hair. But she couldn't deny there was something about the rough, quiet mutant that made her heart ache and her belly tighten.
She shook her head and decided she'd thought about Logan enough. What was done was done and dwelling on it in the darkness of her room wasn't going to change it.
Deciding a shower sounded like a wonderful way to wash away the sweat, sex, and embarrassment, she pushed her weight off of the door and headed across the room. She entered the bathroom and started the water, the steam rising quickly in the small room. Already she felt cleaner and the steady spray of the water as she stepped beneath it was heavenly.
Tight muscles loosened as she stood beneath the water and her thoughts began to clear. "Just focus on bathing." The menial act of lathering her hair and spreading soapy bubbles across her skin finished off her thoughts, leaving her mind blissfully quiet. No more embarrassment. No more curiosity. No more heat.
Until her hand glided across her neck, touching the mark Logan had left on her skin.
Suddenly, she was bombarded with images of her time with Logan. Flashes filled her vision with such veracity that she stumbled into the shower wall.
Logan in the kitchen. Him barging into her room. Following him after he left.
"Don't go."
Him kissing her. Kissing him.
"My room."
Calloused hands cupping her jaw, touching her. The quick loss of clothing. Bronze skin. Taut. Muscles rippling beneath her touch.
Her hands clenching against the door as he touched her, took her.
Him picking her up and a soft bed beneath her.
Kissing. Him kissing his way slowly up and down her legs. That smug smile of his right before he licked…
She tore her hand away from her neck and the memories settled into the back of her mind. Standing against the shower wall, water still spraying against her skin, she waited for her heart to quit quaking in her chest. She focused on the warm water at her front and cool bath tiles at her back and let the contrasting sensations shock her back to reality.
When she felt like she could breathe again, she stepped back under the water fully and finished rinsing the soap from her body. "It's okay," she murmured as she stepped out of the shower and walked to the mirror. "You're fine." Her hand hovered over the rough skin of her neck but she wasn't able to make herself touch it. "You're not going crazy."
As if to prove that to herself, she let her fingers fall against the healed wound. She was rewarded with a fresh flooding of images. What had been memories of the night before were replaced with images of Logan pacing in an oak-lined room, hands running anxiously through his hair. Despite not being able to hear him, she knew that he was distraught.
Was he upset about his time with her? Did he regret her?
The thought hurt more than she cared to admit and was all the incentive she needed to remove her hand from her neck. She didn't want to see any more than she already had.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she wondered out loud, "What the hell is going on?" But despite the intense curiosity burning just under her skin, she had a feeling she didn't want to know.
—
The battles in his mind were exhausting him, and while he and the beast had never necessarily agreed on everything, this was getting out of hand. The two sides of him had been disagreeing quite often as of late. Always about Jessica.
He should have known it would be worse if he ever lost control and marked her.
Now, in the aftermath of what he had done, it was nearly impossible to stay away from the woman. Especially since the animal inside was fighting for control, practically forcing his feet in her direction.
The beast had been inconsolable since Logan had decided to leave the mansion.
He tried to ignore the incessant howling and snarling that reverberated around his metal skull as he left the Professor's study. He still visited the room he had gone to so many times for advice no matter how long his friend had been gone; usually, he found some solace in the act but had found none that night.
Sighing roughly, he made his way to his room, praying Jessica wasn't there and hoping she was. As he approached the door, he inhaled deeply and knew before he entered the room that she was already gone.
A tight ball of disappointment formed in his stomach but he ignored it as he took in the room before him. It was a mess. The alarm and lamp that normally rested on his bedside table were in a heap on the floor, his bed sat askew against the wall, and the solid oak desk that usually sat beneath his window was halfway down the wall.
It looked as if an earthquake had rolled through the room but he knew better. Jessica had clearly not been in control of her voice, the voice he had drawn from her so many times, as he had taken her.
It appeared he wasn't the only one who knew how to leave a mark.
Smiling despite himself, he moved further into the room. The smile fell from his lips as he spotted the duffle bag that lived just inside his open closet door.
He was leaving and he needed to remember that. No matter the happiness that swelled in his chest or the pride his animal felt for their mate, he was leaving.
Just for a couple of days, he promised the raging animal. He just needed to leave long enough to come to terms with what he had done to himself and Jessica.
He moved through the hazardous space of his room to grab the duffel bag and threw cigars, cash, and clothes - a week's worth just to be safe - inside. Heading for the door, he decided to leave the mess for if he came back.
When, the animal growled in his head. The bedroom door slammed behind him.
He suddenly couldn't get through the halls, down the stairs, and out to the garage quickly enough. Not even the sight of his motorcycle soothed him like it usually did as he secured his bag against the machine. He needed to get out of here. Quickly.
Though he couldn't tell if it was because he wanted to run or because he might decide to stay.
He decided not to dwell on it and started the engine, trying to savor the freedom he could taste on his tongue and failing.
The feral mutant closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose, hoping to get one last smell of Jessica somewhere close. Just to appease the animal.
No, he thought. It wasn't just for the beast inside. It was for him as well. To help him get through the times he would think of her. Miss her.
He gave up when he wasn't able to place her scent near the musty, old garage. Running a hand roughly over his face, he put the bike in gear and started moving slowly through the grounds. He passed the school and children playing outside.
One of the students he passed was Rogue lounging on the lawn with her friends. He didn't miss the hint of annoyance on her face as he passed. He did this quite often and every time she gave him grief about it; it seemed the former mutant had gotten tired of his disappearing act.
With a nod in her direction, he continued through the grounds, and passed the basketball court that housed the jet and the greenhouse, stopping only when he reached the gates. Freedom lay just beyond those metal gates but his home lay behind him. Should he really leave?
His nose tickled, alerting him that he had found the scent he was looking for. Jessica. He turned his head frantically in every direction until he found the source of her wonderful scent running along the edge of the grounds with Ororo.
She was wearing simple running attire, hair thrown up into another messy tangle on top of her head, but all he could see was creamy freckled skin surrounded by brown curls. He wanted nothing more than to get off his bike and take her in his arms, bury his hand in those curls, and taste her again.
Just as suddenly as the thought had entered his mind it left as he was distracted by shining green eyes on him. Jessica's head tilted to the side as she looked between him and the bag on the back of his bike.
He wanted to go to her, urged by the howling of his animal, and comfort her. Tell her he was coming back to her. Tell her he had changed his mind and wasn't leaving at all.
Shifting his weight, he moved to stand and get off of the bike but stopped when he saw her head move slowly up and down. Her eyes met his and she nodded once more before turning back to Ororo.
That was the second time that day she had turned her back on him, but this time the animal wasn't shocked. It was enraged.
It fought for control but the gates opened just in time for Logan to speed away from the school.
Away from his home.
Away from his mate.
Author's Note: And there he goes! I feel like this one stuck more closely to the original story than chapter one did but I really like the rewritten version. What did you guys think?
I'll see you all in two weeks with chapter three of The Mating of Two Souls!