Title: Feral Attractions Part 1
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters presented in this work of fanfiction with the exception of Heather and Todd, the bartender. I make no money from this simple story and only slightly more from my day job.
AN: I have reformed some characters to fit this story and you may be surprised by or despised by what I've done but if you flame me for them, I'll just make s'mores.
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Feral Attractions
Part 1: Cold Showers Without Water
Ororo pushed the sweaty mass of her hair out of her eyes and blinked up at the cracking plaster ceiling above her in a daze. Although she would have preferred to be gazing up at the beautiful twinkling view from her skylight, she knew she was just being plain greedy. It was one decadent thrill she had no choice but deny herself because not only would it be both impossible and stupid to have the man who now lay half sprawled across her sated body in *her* bed, it would undoubtedly lead to someone's funeral. She'd just have to give up her stars and the haven of her bedroom if she wanted to have any passion in her life, she sighed. Mind numbing sex in cheap motels in exchange for the romance and love she craved would have to be enough. A quick glance down at the beautifully sculpted man whose subconsciously possessive hold on her said it all. It told her that she'd made a pretty decent trade.
Goddess. For all his imperfections, the man was incredible in bed. She had no words to describe the things he did to her. Decadent things that made her blush whenever she dared think about them. Even now, her entire body still tingled with latent tremors, the aftershocks from at least three successive orgasms. She'd given up on trying to keep up with them after the first few times they'd been together but she was wondering if she was becoming addicted to their screaming intensity and the man responsible for them.
She could barely move now. Nor she did not want to. The weight of his heavy limbs were strangely soothing. Comforting. A comfort she needed now that she trying not to think about what she'd just done. Yet again.
She took a deep breath, causing her bed partner to finally shift his prone position and lift his head. His dark eyes glittered into hers, remnants of lust still lingering although now filtered with resigned acceptance.
"Yer leavin'." he muttered it as a statement rather than a question. His gravely voice was always softer after sex, like raw silk on sand.
Ororo shook her head and offered him a lazy smile. "Not just yet. I do not have the strength just yet." she admitted, absently stroking the coarse honey-colored hairs that graced his powerful forearm. After all this time, she still was a little awed by his physique. Living in a house full of possibly some of the most physically perfect men she'd ever seen, it was no small feat that he managed to impress her. Perhaps it was his sheer size and the graceful way he moved, but she enjoyed ogling him. She sighed inwardly in feminine appreciation as she watched his bicep muscle flex smoothly with the little squeeze he gave to her exposed hip.
"Good." he said with a promising twinkle in his dark eyes. "I'm not ready for ya to leave either." he added before resuming his cat nap, which mainly consisted of him shutting his eyes and occasionally rubbing his thick calf muscle against hers with a low contented purr. This had become a habit of theirs the last few times they dared meet. Just laying here, savoring the skin to skin contact after frenzied sex. She learned that it helped to calm her back down as well and prepare her to face the outside world. She imagined it had the same effect on him.
She sighed softly after long moments. It had been getting harder and harder to just get up and walk away from him. She found it was the one thing about their 'relationship' she was beginning to dread. Well, that and the attempt to hide this huge secret from the people she lived with. Her friends, family and teammates, The X-men. If they ever found about this, more than the shit would hit the fan. She swallowed hard, forcing away the familiar lump in her throat. There would be no tears. She never cried.
"Shit...Rory. Don't go gettin' all soft on me with that guilt shit, again." he growled, the bed creaking in protest as he moved to peer into her face. "We agreed to leave all that bullshit at the door."
Goddess, she'd forgotten about his ability to read her every mood like a book. Damned, mutated senses. He could smell when she was upset whether she shed a tear or not. Sometimes she wished she could do the same with him. They'd been sleeping together for nearly three months, yet she had no idea how to gauge his feelings. However, judging by the edge in his voice right now she could assume he was annoyed at having his pleasant mood disrupted. He did have the right to be irritable. She was breaking one of their cardinal rules. Bringing in the outside world.
"Victor, I am sorry but I cannot help but feel frustrated by this." she said quietly.
"Like I'm not?" he asked, incredulously. "It's stupid how we gotta sneak around like we're some fuckin' kids or something. I'm gettin' sick of this crap" She knew she had to hurriedly quell his agitation. Victor Creed had an irrationally low threshold for relaxation. She had come to treasure his rare moments of peacefulness when he finally was spent enough not to remember to be angry at the world. Only then did she get a glimpse of the man of the surprisingly intelligent man with a rather quirky sense of humor rather than the barely human creature he became when he took on his Sabretooth persona. It was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but unfortunately he chose to cling to his darker side. He seemed to have real issues about showing any vulnerability and Ororo could not help but wonder what things he must have suffered to take such pains to quiet his humanity.
She shook her head, knowing he could see the motion as clearly as if it were daylight. Trailing a quieting finger from his beautiful mouth until it rested against the deep cleft in his chin, she hushed him. "Let us not ruin this night, like we have the others. Didn't you just remind me to leave all those issues outside the door. Can we have just one night without the X-men or the Brotherhood intruding?"
But as always, once either was mentioned their lives outside the room stood between them like a white elephant. She knew before he spoke, he was not going to ignore it anymore than she was.
"Fuck 'em, babe." he demanded quietly, all pretense of relaxation gone as his enormous hand tightened on her thigh. Goddess, she was grateful he remembered to clip his claws back. "Let's both just do it. Leave all of that shit behind and be together. Just me and you."
Ororo closed her eyes against the delicious feel of his calloused fingers as without warning he began to stroke the sensitive area between her thighs. He was doing it again. Trying to seduce her into saying what he wanted to hear rather than resort to having a real conversation.
She clenched her teeth, refusing to be distracted. "You know I cannot." she said, her voice catching as his knuckle purposely brushed the responsive bundle of nerves at her center. Goddess, it was shameful the way her body always betrayed her when it came to this man.
"Yeah, ya can. Yer a full grown woman, not some weak little frail. Tell the geeks to fuck off and run away with me. Then we can be like this all the time."
Smiling at the breathlessness in his voice, she knew without looking he getting turned on again. It gave her a pure thrill, knowing how excited he got by touching her. It was one of the things she adored about him most. Deciding she'd had enough of the conversation, she leaned up and caught his mouth in a heated kiss, tangling her fingers in his wild mass of dark blonde hair. "You know how much I enjoy being with you, Victor...." she murmured against lips that still shocked her a bit with their softness. "But I cannot just run off with you. I have duties and responsibilities. More than that even." she told him carefully. " Despite what you want to think, I am happy with the X-men." As usual he tensed when she said that. "I will never change my mind, Vic." she murmured softly against his thinning lips.
She was taken aback when he abruptly jerked away from her, staring at her in angry silence. She tried not to be hurt when he brushed her questioning hand from his shoulder.
"So that's it, huh? Duty? Yer gonna always choose yer flamin' duty over bein' with me."
Ororo blinked. He sounded genuinely hurt this time. There was no trace of the underlying playfulness that had always been there in the past when they broached this subject.
"Victor, I am not choosing anything." she said slowly, carefully as she sat up fully to face him.
'What kind of choice does he expect me to make here?' she asked herself. 'Great, no make that.... unbelievable sex vs. my commitment to my life's work. Mutant rights and freedom vs. a few multiple orgasms. He has got to be kidding. How long could we possibly last anyway? A few more months at the most and even that may be a stretch. Male pride. They all think you have to give up everything you hold dear just because they can make you scream out their name.'
Out loud, she kept her voice reasonable and level. "I thought we agreed to keep things simple. Why do I suddenly have to make a choice?"
He was silent for a long time and she desperately wished to be able to see him in the dark as clearly as he could her.
She was beginning to worry until finally he spoke. "Look, forget I said anything." he said. There was a subtle shift in his form, a new tension in his deeply muscled shoulders as he released a heavy sigh. " I got some shit to go handle tonight, babe...so, I'm gonna get ready to head out." he said, moving to climb out of the bed.
"Hey...wait." she protested, grasping his arm before his foot hit the floor. He stilled instantly. "Where is all this moodiness coming from, Vic?"
His course laugh sounded far too forced for her comfort. "I'm just bein' my usual touchy self, babe. I must be tired or something."
"Come on. Do not play games with me. What is bothering you?" she insisted, disregarding the too casual tone he took.
The tiny shaft of light drifting in from the carefully closed drapes revealed him reaching for his discarded leather pants and she didn't need heightened senses to see the tension in his form. It was obvious he had no intention of answering when he stood and began to pull on his pants.
She frowned. He was truly upset if he was foregoing his usual shower. Victor might look dirty and unkempt to most people, but he was almost obsessive about showering. She'd laughed her ass off when he admitted that he didn't want to screw up his image by being an anal retentive neat freak around the people he was supposed to be terrifying.
"Are you going to answer me, Victor?"
"What would be the point, Ororo?" he asked her, yanking his belt with unnecessary force.
She sat up, unnerved by his height as always. Whenever he was upset, she hated to have him looming above her that way. "The point is that I do not want you leaving here upset with me when I have no idea why. This was supposed to be fun, remember?"
"Fun?" he huffed quietly, his black gaze flashing with some unreadable emotion she'd never seen. A dark sounding growl escaped his throat as he suddenly sneered at her, causing her to flinch. "It ain't fun no more! I ain't a goddamned sex toy!"
Her hand flew to her throat, stunned by the raw edge of pain behind his anger. 'Dear God, she had no idea he felt that way. Did he honestly think she felt that way?'
"Yeah, that's exactly what I think." he said, sarcastically letting her know that she had voiced her thoughts aloud. He was pulling on his shirt even as he spoke.
She shook her head, absolutely horrified that things had taken such a sour turn so quickly. Goddess, she had no idea how she felt about him, but she knew it was a good deal more than that. He made it sound as if she was using him. When in all honesty, they were using each other. A mutually satisfying arrangement born out of the strange attraction they felt. That was all it was supposed to be. No emotions. No strings.
He had stalked in eerie silence towards the door during the small window of time that she sat trying to think of something to say.
"I don't think that way about you." she stammered while dragging the tangled sheet with her as she scrambled off the bed to catch him. " To be honest I have no idea how I feel about you, Victor but you have to know it is nothing as crude as that."
His laugh was bitter and cruel. "It doesn't matter, Storm. We both got what we wanted. A good fuck. You were right, it was fun." he paused. "Yer a good piece of ass, baby but it ain't worth all this other fucked up shit."
"What other sh....What did you just say?" she asked him, unable to believe what she thought she heard. She shivered from the chill it sent through her.
So confused by this abrupt personality shift, she didn't have time to react when he pulled her to him painfully by her hair to crush her lips under his with bruising punishment. A tiny whimper of protest mingled with betraying arousal escaped as she felt the sharp press of his elongated canines against her lower lip. He was usually so careful not to hurt her and she tasted the coppery sweetness of her own blood when he finally released her. "It was fun while it lasted, sweetheart." he tossed over his shoulder, as he threw open the door inviting the biting winter winds in to slap against her stunned face.
She pushed the door shut in a daze at the sound of his motorcycle roaring to life a few minutes later, and struggled against the sudden wave of nausea that overcame her as she leaned against the flimsy wood frame. Goddess, help her. What had she be thinking? What had she done?
Thirty minutes later she sat in the back of the cab and shivered again. How could she have been such an idiot? Jeopardizing her life's greatest passion for a couple of months of meaningless sex. She'd known all along to stay away from Victor Creed. He was dangerous, unpredictable and borderline psychotic. Goddess, she should have listened to her first warnings.
Seven months ago, he began to pursue her. Initially, she'd been terrified of him upon her first real encounter with him at the train station. Nearly 300 pounds of muscle and rage looked far more imposing when it was directly in front of you as opposed to the several hundred yards she'd first glimpsed him from during her recruitment turned rescue mission in Canada with Scott. She'd nearly had a hard attack when he slammed her head against the ticket window and lifted her four feet off the ground with one hand. There was no doubt that he could snap her neck with just a flick of his wrist and the feral gleam in his eye told her how excited the idea made him. 'Goddess, he's going to kill me for interfering with his plans in Canada.' she thought, trying not to wince at the stinging bite of his claws against her neck. 'Or perhaps for no reason at all.' she reasoned staring into the black hole of his eyes. Then the ceiling began to crumble unexpectedly and she noticed Scott for the first time. Taking one look at Cyclops standing helplessly with his eyes screwed shut tightly and the ensuing chaos, it dawned on her that this was not simply a personal attack on her. She summoned a bolt of lightening and sent the man/beast who was about to crush her larynx crashing straight into the arrival/departure screen.
That night not only did she wonder at her hesitation to attack him but also why his strange words to her had such an unexpected effect on her. "Scream for me." he growled, his voice sending an odd tremor through her. She didn't feel the level of fear she should have felt, she realized as she lay in bed that night. Instead she felt awareness as the basest of lust begin to flicker to life. He'd held her captive, his grip relaxing slightly as he stared into her eyes with his dark, nearly pupil-less gaze. There was no rage burning there, only a brief look of surprise and then challenging awareness. As if daring her to surrender to what she felt.
It was all she could do to keep her thoughts hidden from Jean when Sabertooth sought her out inside the Statue the next day. He was still breathing hard from his fight with Logan as he approached her. She wondered if he would free her from Magneto's fetter and drag her away into the night. Ororo could not deny that it both frightened and thrilled her at the same time. At that moment she knew without a doubt that he wanted her and would not allow his mentor to hurt her and the caress of his claw against her cheek was meant as reassurance. But then Logan came in and disrupted their game of cat and mouse. Till this day, she wondered at the dark look Logan directed at her in the split second it took Victor to fall two hundred feet off the Statue. Perhaps he noticed the flicker of disappointment on her face before she was able to mask it. Who cared? He was focused back on Jean before she could blink.
She'd been a irresponsible fool when she discovered he'd survived Scott's blast and the subsequent drop nearly three weeks later. Logan was long gone by then, so she refused to dwell on the fleeting attraction she'd held for the lone Canadian. It was obvious his attentions were thinly spread between Jean, Rogue and getting the hell outta dodge. Being a creature driven by testosterone, he had been unable to completely hide his interest from her but whenever Jean was nearby, he forgot she existed. She supposed she just was not fascinating enough. It had taken Ororo less than a day to determine that even a flirtation with him was a complete was of time.
Perhaps that was why she felt slightly flattered when she realized she was being followed during one of her customary weekend shopping sprees to the city. As sly as he was, he had to have realized he was far too big of a man to go unnoticed for long. Her former thieving skills were not needed to pick up on his presence, he stuck out like a sore thumb. She could still recall the almost boyish look of surprise that overtook his normally savage features when she gave him a playful wave before darting inside her favorite lingerie shop. He was waiting next to Charles' silver Jaguar when she emerged almost an hour later, looking strangely out of place leaning against the sleek machine.
"Wow," she said, approaching him carefully her gaze hidden behind her couture sunglasses "You look surprisingly unscathed for a guy who just fell to his death from Lady Liberty."
"I guess I got nine lives or something." he said slowly, following my progress to the trunk of the car with his unsettling gaze.
"Did your slimy little friend have the same good fortune?" Ororo asked, tossing the bag in the trunk with a casual ease she did not feel.
"Who? You mean Mort...er, Toad?"
She smirked at the name and offered a little nod. Logan was right, we mutants did seem to have a bit of a tongue in cheek humor when it came to picking out our 'super hero' monikers.
He gave a light laugh and it was a surprisingly nice sound. "I think I'll let ya figure that out on yer own time. Can't go givin' away all my secrets to the enemy, Ororo."
Somehow she was not surprised he knew her real name, she was pretty sure the Brotherhood, as disorganized at they may appear had files on each of the X-Men just as the X-Men had of them.
She knew several key facts about him, the majority of which were quite unpleasant but that was no reason to base an opinion on him. She and Scott, both had rap sheets a mile long before joining the X-men.
"Hmm, now that is not very polite. You know who I am, yet I have no idea what to call you." she teased, eyeing him over the rim of her glasses. "I do not know whether to address you as Sabie or Toothie."
His sharp canines gleamed in what at least for him was a smirk. "Does mean you wanna call me?" he asked, one bushy brow lifting in suggestion.
Ororo shrugged, suddenly aware that anyone who recognized her might find it strange that she was standing on a corner having a casual conversation with a known mutant "terrorist." Westchester was not a big enough place for a woman with her distinct features to go unnoticed and at least here most people knew where she lived. And exactly who she was. Of course, since some people thought almost as little of the X-men as they did the Brotherhood, she had to wonder if anyone would even be aware that they were sworn enemies. So, did it really matter if she flirted back. Still, she waited until she heard the locks clicking under the press of the keyless remote and her hand was on the handle before she responded.
"I believe you will have to figure that out for yourself, Victor Creed. A girl must keep some secrets to herself." Ororo tossed over her shoulder, as she slid into the safety of the car. She caught a glimpse of him staring after her in the rearview mirror, before he eventually turned and strolled out of sight.
Nearly a week later an anonymous message arrived mysteriously in her private e-mail account, one afternoon while she took a brief respite from grading exams. She almost deleted it before curiosity got the better of her. Only Kurt, Pietro and the Professor had this address and they would never address the sender as unknown. Well unless that scoundrel of a thief, Remy LeBeau had managed to hack into it during his last impromptu visit. He rarely tried to contact her now, since he knew she was furious at him for refusing to consider joining the team. Her wayward friend and former partner in crime had so much potential yet no trust of outsiders, except for when it came to her. 'He must be in some sort of trouble' she mused. Taking a quick glance around the empty rec room, she covered the screen with Robert Drake's red ink laden History exam before double-clicking the strange looking message. Addressed to her painfully unimaginative screen name, WindKisser @Xavier School_ny.com.
It read:
Ready to scream? I am.
Westchester Inn.
Room 208. Friday. 11 PM.
Signed
Your Best Kept Secret
Guiltily, she recalled slamming down the laptop shut with such force she was certain she'd cracked the screen. Goddess, Sabertooth would have had to hack into the computer system to pull up that particular address she realized. Most likely Mystique got it for him.
She nearly panicked as she realized she'd put the school's sensitive data in jeopardy, until it occurred to her that they'd probably had this access all along. After all Mystique had been running around the mansion for well over a week and they'd never realized it until she'd already done her damage. She frowned slightly at the idea that they would have to work even harder at updating the security system. Yet even the thought of that very daunting task could not quell the small flattered smile at the effort Victor had taken to reach her.
Still she'd spent the rest of the week in a barely restrained state of anxiety as she wrestled with her both her conscience and raging libido. But there was really no question, this time her libido was screaming for attention and she felt as if she'd go insane if she ignored it. The primal need she had never allowed herself to face before made itself known when Victor Creed touched her. Finally she decided that she deserved to experience that side of herself at least once in her life.
So she pretended she was anyone but Ororo Munroe, X-woman and headed for the outskirts of town. It had been the wildest, most intense six hours of the purest and most carnal sex she'd ever had. And once she'd started, it was almost impossible to stop.
"Ma'am, are you okay back there?" her cab driver asked in his broken English, snapping her out of her reverie.
"This is the correct address, right?"
Ororo looked up in surprise, stunned to see they'd already arrived at the school and she nodded as she gave the young Indian man a tight smile along with his overpriced cab fare. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the cab and glanced up at the huge estate she called home with deep seated trepidation.
Goddess, she hoped she could keep her emotions in check around her telepathic best for the next few weeks. Thank the Bright Lady that the Professor was still out of town, smoozing with the bureaucrats in Washington for the next fifteen days. If she couldn't, she knew that Jean would hound her until she cracked under the pressure and that was the last thing she could have happen. She would stick to her story about needing to take a break at her favorite day spa, knowing that Jean would never try to get into her head without consent. No one inside that house must ever to find out how she'd betrayed their trust. No one could ever discover the things she'd done in a moment of weakness.
Ororo paused outside the gates to take a deep calming breath as the computer performed its 3-D thermal scan. The gate slid open with a soft beep while she composed her face into its usual mask of serenity; completely unaware of the narrowed eyes following her progress.
The motorcycle pulled away from a spot blanketed by a high shelf of shrubbery and flagstone, the powerful engine silenced by its stealth mode just as Ororo slipped inside the gates. It accelerated dangerously under the command of it's rider, speeding back towards the city in search of a decent bar. Yet, something told the darkly scowling man he'd need more than a few stiff drinks to drown out the things he'd discovered tonight.