Rogue watched the blood spread across her palm and fall from the edges of her hand, scarlet tears streaking the white porcelain of the bathroom sink. The past two days had left her shaken and now the antique French glass Xavier bought for her birthday lay shattered around the drain. Berating herself for her lack of grace, she had tried to pick up the pieces, only to be ridiculed by fate again, when she managed to slice a large gash in her right palm.

With the red liquid flowing uncontrollably, she began to search for the first aid box. God bless Jean for her over efficiency in placing one in every bathroom in the mansion. Just as she pulled the small box from the dust covered shelf under the sink, she heard a loud thud come from the adjoining bedroom. It sounded almost like the door being kicked in. She was about to ask who was there, when with no warning, three shiny claws burst through the wooden bathroom door, crippling the lock. Rogue was so startled she fell back into the tub, bruising her ass and scattering the contents of the first aid box across the floor tiles, as the door swung open with an enormous crash.

Logan stood in the doorframe, claws extended, ready for a fight, surveying the room, his eyes wild with an air of imposing violence. He was wearing nothing but an old pair of dull green sweat pants and Rogue guessed from the way he was practically panting, that he must have ran all the way from his room. The vicious glare on his face dissolved into a smug grin as he took in the sight before him. Rogue was sat sideways in the bath, her legs dangling absently over the rim, wearing only a lilac, lace bra and matching thong. Logan let his eyes linger over her body, indulging in the sight of velvety skin until he was once again confronted by the sickening smell of her blood.

Rogue had unknowingly managed to cover every surface with red smears, including herself. Retracting the claws Logan plodded over to the bath and hesitantly pulled her up to stand before him. She looked at him hopefully, still clasping the seeping hand in the other as he gently placed his hands on her shoulders urging her to sit on the edge of the bath, this time without falling in. He handed her the wash cloth to rub off the stains on her stomach and she sat in silence, watching as he gathered the contents of the first aid box and laid them on the toilet lid. Logan always had a way of calming her by taking control of any and every situation. He turned back to her and moved forward, so they were nearly face to crotch and taking the wash cloth, smoothed tangled strands of hair from her eyes, before dropping it in the bath.

Taking her arms, he drew her up against him, causing his breath to catch and her body to shudder, as he lead her to lean over the sink. He placed her hand carefully under the cold tap, cleaning the wound and washing away the sticky patches of blood with tender and caressing fingers. Rogue closed her eyes at the touch, remembering how those same skilled fingers had sent chills through her naked body just a few nights ago.

Logan watched every gesture of her face and its divulging smile and found himself thinking of the expression she wore that night, when she came, whispering his name, over and over, every feature beaming with ecstasy. Rogue snapped her eyes open just in time to see Logan avert his and realised he'd been watching her. He turned off the running water and not knowing what else to say, said, "Sit."

Rogue lowered her bottom back to the rim of the bath, taking in the only word he'd spoken to her in the past couple of days. Ever since two nights ago, after a late night bar crawl, when she was unusually drunk and he was unusually honest, they had both confessed their feelings. They spoke of their long-repressed desire for each other, the excessive need, the extravagant love and above all, the harrowing fear of what the others would think. Rogue was barely eighteen and for all the blatant name-calling Logan could handle, cradle snatcher was a brush he did not wish to be tarred with. Rogue knew that Scott, and especially Jean would believe her love to be nothing more than misplaced affection, an empty crush, just want for eternal protection.

They would all be wrong but they weren't ready to face them yet. But they were more than ready to face each other. So, they made love, right there and then, up against the wall in the quiet and tiny confines of the men's room in the back of the garage. It was hard and fast and tinged with riotous desperation, a heat that neither could extinguish, defiant of all reason and common sense. Rogue could not regret it and refused to forget it the way Logan seemed determined to. As far as he was concerned, she was drunk and he'd taken advantage of a teenage girl, a low he thought even he couldn't stoop to. Cursing himself a pervert and with the image of her sweaty body writhing under his vivid in his mind, he had left her. Left her on the greasy toilet floor with her knickers around her ankles to cry, while he ran
upstairs to pack his bags.

He was almost to his door, when Storm stopped him and asked if he'd accompany her on an errand. He couldn't let the others know what a monster he had become, but thought if he said no and ran they'd know something was up and Marie would be the first they'd ask. So he had stayed and tried his hardest to avoid her and the whole ugly situation. And two nights later he was lying in bed when he smelt it. The distinct smell of blood. Marie's blood. He'd run out of the room so fast, his mind awash, jumping to horrific conclusions, that he hadn't thought of the scenario and the numerous complications that he was now faced with.

He lifted the shards of glass from the sink, to dump in the bin, cutting his hands to ribbons in the process. The wounds healed in seconds and Rogue felt a pang of jealousy watching him, as the vast scratch deep in her palm began to sting. The obvious cringe must have been physical as well as mental, for she heard a low chuckle as Logan lifted the first aid box, placing it next to the sink and sat opposite her on the closed toilet. He began to unwind a bandage and cotton gauze, when Rogue decided she was fed up of being speechless.

"Why are you here, Logan?" she asked, leaning forward as he took her injured hand in his own. He started to wrap the cut as he muttered, concentrating his gaze on her hand.

"I smelt the blood. I promised to take care of you, so I came. Didn't you expect me to?"

"No."

His eyes shot to hers, a look of anger replacing care.

"You thought I'd let you bleed to death, huh? I'm not a complete bastard, you know!" he snapped as he tore the surgical tape with bared teeth and roughly bound her hand.

"I knew you wanted nothing to do with me, that's all," she muttered, disgruntled. He dropped the tape and gauze back into the box and, balancing his elbows on his knees, whispered harshly, "You know that's not true."

"Isn't it?" It was a malicious tone. She leant her hands on either side of her body, moving her face closer to his.

"You know how I feel, Marie" he growled as he chanced a look at her eyes. They were hardened with principle and unflinching.

"Then what are you afraid of?"

"Hurting you. If they knew, they wouldn't approve, Marie. They'll brand me a paedophile and kick me out. They'll make you choose and if you wanted to be with me, you'd have to leave the only home you've ever known."

She read his eyes, exploring them with her own, trying to uncover what she was sure he was suppressing. There was more to what he was telling her and she needed to figure it out.

"No, Logan. You mean, the only home YOU'VE ever known. How hard is it to admit, Logan? You don't want to lose what you've found here. People who accept you, for who and what you are, no questions asked. People who admire you and who you admire. Admit that!"

She said it with such surprising menace, with no mercy in her words and Logan knew she was right, but he was damned if he was going to admit it. He rose to his feet, using his height to empower himself, towering over her he felt superior, back in control.

"No. You wouldn't come with me if I left, because you need your precious Professor and his meditation techniques to contain your mutation. Admit that!" he snarled, stepping towards the closed door. She grabbed his arm, turning him to behold his deadly eyes, encouraging him to stay with her own that glowed with solace and faith.

"God! Are you really that stupid, Logan? What do you think Xavier believed I was doing it for? Why do you think I spent TWO YEARS working on manipulating my gift? I'll tell you why! So I could do this!" she ran out of breath as she slid a hand up over his chest, tracing the line of his throat to graze his lips with bare fingers. Logan closed his eyes to the feel of her skin on his, the caress bordering on rapture. It all felt too natural, too right to want to resist and Logan pulled Marie into his arms as he covered her mouth with his, aroused by the flirting of her tongue and the potency of her lips. Rogue grasped his athletic shoulders with both hands, digging her nails into the skin as Logan ground his whole body into hers. She moaned into his lush, wet mouth when she felt the pressure on her injured hand, but was too submerged in the throes of pleasure to be concerned with any pain.

Logan moved his rugged hands along her body, one clasping the hollow curve of her back as the other fondled her firm buttocks with fervour. Rogue had reached nirvana, she had never known anything to taste as good as Logan, his roaming fingers kindling an odyssey of unprecedented lustful madness to blaze within her. She moved her arms to clutch at his neck, starting to move eager hands down the length of his body. Tracing his collarbone, his strong shoulders, twisting her fingers over his broad muscular chest, skating over hardened nipples to follow the coarse chest hair that trailed down his toned stomach. Teasing the waistband of his sweat pants, she slipped her talented fingers under the moist material to stroke his engorged and weeping penis. She smiled against his inflamed lips at his sharp gasp, her hands surging around the hard flesh she was so eager to once again possess. She continued to pump and rub and stroke until she felt his body convulse, sending vibrations through her. Logan could barley contain the roar that erupted from his lungs as his orgasm ripped through him with searing heat. He was forced to steady himself by placing a hand on the door behind him as Rogue completed her ministrations on his now swollen lips.

She feathered his entire face with soft, light kisses as he came down from his high. Logan opened his clenched eyes to see Marie's beautiful face emerge from the darkness. A sight familiar yet still so exotic. His breathing returned to normal as he began kissing her again, licking the roof of her mouth with his thrusting tongue. With eyes dilated from sensation, she broke away, the resolve returning to her voice.

"We have to tell them, Logan. I won't live a lie, pretend to be something I'm not. You remember my first kiss. When you keep secrets, people get hurt. They'll understand. I'll explain, it'll be fine."

Panic gripped Logan. "Marie, you can't. They won't understand, what happened…" he trailed off, his eyes taking on a far away stare, as if remembering.

"And what did happen, Logan?" She took a step back, breaking their entwined hands, to his annoyance.

He stood completely straight and muttered, "Nothing happened."

Rogue couldn't believe what she was hearing. He glided past her and opened the bathroom door. But she refused to be downtrodden this time. It was all or nothing now. He'd taken three steps into her bedroom and was on the way to the open door, to the hallway when she yelled, "We slept together, Logan. It wasn't nothing to me!"

He stopped dead in his tracks, spinning around, looking at her casually leaning on the bathroom doorframe. "Marie, they'll hear you!" It was a warning growl and a plea combined.

"You were inside me, Logan!" Her voice raised in volume as it echoed off the room, her lips curving into a venomous smile.

"Shut up!" He spat out, stalking towards her, ready to pounce.

"You FUCKED me, Logan!" The scream had hardly left her lips when he lunged forward, smothering her mouth with a rough hand. She struggled against him, flailing arms beating at his chest but he quickly thwarted her attempts at escape by binding both her wrists behind her back with his other free hand. Logan pulled Rogue's body into his and looked down at her, his eyes consumed with both ardour and explosive rage. She stared back, two dark, blinking eyes, all that was visible, with the rest of her face eclipsed by his large hand. Rogue regretted what she'd just done, but now there was no turning back, no denying what they'd shared. The scream had been loud enough for even God to hear.

Logan gazed down at the woman in his arms. A woman. He knew she was, he'd made her one. They were both breathing hard, and realising he must be hurting her, he finally let go. Slowly, as if releasing a wild animal, he loosened his grip on her wrists and moved the hand over her mouth to cup her face with his palm and stroke her cheek with his thumb. Her fear vanished at the look in his eyes and she noticed his nose twitch, heralding the arrival of people. He let out a low, inadvertent growl as Rogue turned to look at her open door and the sound of approaching feet. She looked at Logan, standing in front of her and took his hands in her own. She gazed up at his apprehensive face as she kissed each set of knuckles, transforming his worried grimace into a confident grin. Just as she did so, a few students, Ororo, Scott and Jean all appeared in her doorway.

"Rogue, are you alright?" Scott asked, shooting a derogative head tilt towards Logan.

"Did I hear what I think I heard?" Jean muttered, glancing dubiously towards Rogue. Everybody fell silent in preparation for an answer.

"Yeah Scott, I'm fine and-"

"You heard right boys and girls…" Logan cut off Marie, "I fucked her…" he growled as he grabbed Marie, lifting her easily in his arms, to a background of gasps and shocked sighs. He smiled before ravishing her mouth in an unashamedly passionate kiss, whilst slowly walking them both towards the door and the crowd of open-mouthed spectators.

"And if you don't mind…" he paused as he hooked a foot around the door, "I'm about to do it again!"

And with that confession and a devilish smile, he simply slammed the door.