Title: Feral Attractions Part 5
Rating: R
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: ((indicates telepathic conversation))
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Feral Attractions
Part 5: Bad Moods Risin'
'All right. This is getting ridiculous, Ororo. Just raise your hand and knock. You are a grown woman, an X-woman for the Goddess' sake. You did not just spend fifteen minutes trying to psyche yourself up for nothing. Knock on the damned door and get this over with.'
Her hand still hung poised over the door when it unexpectedly swung open. She jerked back, startled. Logan stood there, a scowl firmly stamped on his face wearing nothing but a pair of sweat pants and water droplets. Obviously, he'd just gotten out of the shower, she noted, taking in the plump drops of water clinging to his chiseled pecs as they slowly slid down to get lost in the dark line of hair marking the center of his torso. Swallowing hard, she averted her attention to a less distracting sight, a spot near his ear where one particular droplet clung to his ear. It was as good a focal point as any she decided, considering she was not quite willing to face the sneer he presented to her.
"What do you want, Storm?" he asked, blatant impatience in both his tone and stance.
"Logan, we need to talk." she announced, forcing herself to meet his eyes.
"Aww, damn... I was kinda hopin' you'd changed yer mind and decided to take me up on my earlier offer." he taunted, baring his teeth in a mock grin. "Yer loss, Darlin'" he murmured, stepping aside anyway.
She hid her irritation well as she pushed past him and waited in the center of his room for him to close the door.
The door clicked silently and Logan turned to her, unsmilingly. "Ya wanted to talk, so talk."
Now that she was here, she had no idea how to say what she had so neatly constructed downstairs in the den. She watched with annoyance as he strolled past her to pick up a discarded towel. His hair stood up in wild black peaks as he vigorously rubbed it dry but he made no move to put on a shirt. Ororo decided not to dwell on it.
"What are you going to do with what you know, Logan?" she blurted, as he began toweling off his damp skin as though she were no longer there.
He shrugged, still administering unnecessary attention to his nearly dry skin. "Hadn't given it much thought, yet." he admitted, lifting his hazel eyes to hers after several tense seconds. "What do you want me to do?" He asked quietly.
The shame she felt colored her cheeks as she watched him carefully. She hated having to ask him to lie for her. She hated, even more, that he seemed to know just how difficult it was for her to ask. "Pl...Please tell no one what you know, Logan."she stammered.
Seemingly endless, silence stretched through the room as he observed her, cocking his head to the side in question. There was a smug set to his face that she did not like one bit. "Whatcha gonna give me in return?" he asked, a suggestive gleam in his eyes.
Ororo's eyes drifted shut as she fought to stamp down the sinking feeling in her gut. 'Bright Lady, I had no idea he would be the type to resort to this. Dear Lord, the sneaky bastard is thinking of blackmailing me. I do not know how to handle this.' "Wh...What do you want?" she questioned warily, forcing her eyes open. She was surprised to find him standing right in front of her, and could not suppress the telltale gasp that escaped her.
There was no doubt about what he was referring to as he dragged his eyes down the length of her body with a dangerous looking smirk tugging at his lips. "I can think of a...few things that might be satisfactory." he speculated, stepping towards her as he spoke.
Her spine went rigid. 'Tell me this is not happening. Goddess, I do not want to have to hurt him...but if he touches me like this...' Her thoughts broke off as she felt his hand slide around her waist, unable to believe that he'd actually dared touch her so personally.
"Shit, this could be a pretty decent arrangement when ya think about it, Ro." he murmured, white teeth flashing in a semblance of a smile. "I always thought you were a hot little number."
Ororo was speechless at both his offensive comment and by the unexpected feel of his slightly rough fingers sliding beneath her shirt to brush against her sensitive spine. She gave an involuntary shiver at the treacherous heat his unwelcome touch ignited and cursed herself for the reaction. She could not understand her disappointment of him, that he could be so cruel. She had come to value him as a teammate, recognizing the few glimpses of goodness she'd seen behind all attitude he wore so well. Perhaps it had been a lie. Perhaps he was, in fact, the snake that Scott had suggested he was. "Don't do this, Logan." she said, her voice sounding far too shaky to be a considered a convincing command even to her own ears.
"What, I ain't good enough fer you or something?" he growled, his mouth so close to her ear the heat of his mouth tickled her skin. "Or do you prefer an animal?"
She did not get the chance to answer because suddenly she felt the hard pressure of his lips dropping to a spot on her neck, just beneath her lobe. She gasped, both thrilled and horrified by the red-hot prick of desire his mouth ignited as he sucked and licked at her flesh. She worked her mouth in protest, but could do nothing but gasp at the feel of his warm hand at the base of her spine pulling her closer towards his naked chest. His heated skin was an intoxicating mix of soap and something else she couldn't name, but it reminded her of trees and sunshine. Even though she wanted to pull away, she felt drawn to that scent.
Ororo was vaguely aware of his other hand moving and slowly it began working a path under the front of her shirt. Helplessly she whispered his name, the sound coming out as more of a plea than the warning she intended. She heard him growl lightly as he continued to nip and suckle at her skin, and realized he had no intention of stopping. She'd always been attracted to him, she knew but Goddess, she did not want him like this. His earlier words came back to the forefront of her mind, just as she felt his wandering hand cup the underside of her breast. Coming to her senses, she opened her eyes and began to push him away.
He let her go without protest, his eyes dark as he watched her struggle to catch her breath. "What was that for?" she asked, shakily smoothing her top back down with trembling hands.
"Just givin' ya what I know ya wanted, Darlin'" he told her.
"What?" she asked incredulously.
He tapped his nose for emphasis. "I knew you wanted that the minute ya stepped through the door."
"You arrogant little bastard." she spat in disbelief, the words mirroring the look on her face as she gaped at him. "I do not want you."
"C'mon. Yer damn scent is givin' off so many pheromones, I can hardly see straight."
"Goddess, You are ridiculous. I cannot believe you are blaming me for being such a..." she said, shaking her head in frustration. "I would not want you if you were the last man on earth."
"Yeah, whatever you say Ororo." he said, calling her bluff. "It doesn't really matter anyway." he shrugged, when her frown deepened. "I really don't think I like the taste of Sabretooth's leftovers anyway." he added.
"Fuck you." Ororo snapped, her tentative calm flying out the window. Her hand reached out almost on its own accord and before she realized what she was doing her hand had already made contact with his face with a resounding smack. Her hand flew to her open mouth in horror.
Slowly he turned his face back to hers, his eyes chilling as he dabbed at the light trickle of blood glistening on his lip. And her eyes widened as she recognized the almost insane rage burning so intensely in his eyes that they almost looked green.
She cried out as his hands grabbed her wrist in a steel vice and he jerked her to him so hard, she could barely breath.
"Don't you ever fuckin' hit me like that again, Ororo." he snarled, his face inches from hers.
"Let me go, Logan." she demanded, struggling uselessly against his bruising grip. Already the tiny cut at the corner of his mouth was repairing itself, but still he held on.
"Just so you know," he began, loosening his grip a little. "I'll keep yer fuckin' secret. Just do me a favor and stay the hell away from me."
She almost laughed as she stared up at him. Did he seriously think she wanted it any other way? "Nothing would make me happier." she told him steadily. Somehow she managed not to show her relief when he released her and held her head high as she moved past him and opened his door. The moment she pulled the door shut safely behind her, she rubbed at the tender bruises on her wrist, furiously blinking back the threat of tears.
Why is he being so cruel?' she wondered. How had she ever mistaken that man as someone she could befriend someday. He was even more of an animal than Victor. 'At least, my secret is safe.' she reminded herself, as she turned to head up to her room.
Two doors down, John Alderdyce tucked his head back into his room as his History teacher disappeared upstairs. He grinned as he mulled over this new tidbit of gossip. Ms. Munroe certainly seemed flustered coming out of Logan's room. And he was almost certain he saw a hickey on her neck. 'Bobby and Jubes are gonna shit a brick when they hear about this.' He thought, rubbing his hands together.
*****
Jean shot a pointed look across the kitchen table to her long time boyfriend, turned fiancé.
Scott sighed and followed the direction of her gaze, landing to the spot two seats away from him where their mutual friend and teammate sat pushing around the steamed vegetables on her plate.
(( I told you something was bothering her.)) Jean said, her mental voice taking on the I-told-you-so quality she often used whenever he brushed off something she'd said.
(( Maybe she's just not hungry, Jean.)) he replied, not really wanting to talk at the moment. He was far too busy sending dagger eyes at Logan for taking off on his bike without permission. He had his own now, for Christ sakes. Granted, it needed some work but at least it was his.
((I don't care if you don't want to talk about it. She's your friend too, Scott.))
Scott resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he shoved a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. ((Well, if it worries you so much, why don't you ask her what's wrong?))
(( I tried to catch up with her after class today but she left a little early. It's funny. She seemed okay at lunch today...well, maybe a little distracted but other than that she seemed fine. But she's barely even looked up from her plate.))
(( Like I said, Jean...Why don't you ask her what's bugging her.)) he suggested with exasperation. It was not that he wasn't concerned, but his attention was suddenly focused on the other end of the dining room, where three of the schools most troublesome students sat with there heads together. Something about the way they kept glancing back over to the faculty table and grinning made him wonder if he should get up and investigate.
(( Fine, Scott. I will check with her after dinner.))
((Okay, hon. Sorry about being so irritable, tonight.))
((That's okay. I know that Bobby, John and Jubilee drive you nuts, just try to give them the benefit of the doubt))
((Easy for you to say, they don't ice down your shop tools or set fire too all your wastebaskets.)) he reminded her.
Jean gave a mental laugh as she started to break off the mind link. ((Oh, by the way. Wolverine looks a little grumpier than usual. I wouldn't mess with him about the bike tonight if I were you.))
She felt him bristle. (( You say that like you think I should feel intimidated by the guy.))
((It was just a suggestion, Sweetie. Just a suggestion.))
Jean sipped her tea, eyeing the platinum curled woman across the table out of the corner of her eye. She was strongly tempted to peek inside her friends head, but knew she had to respect the other woman's intense need for privacy. It was hard knowing Ro was upset and feeling helpless to do anything about it. Something had been going on with Ororo for a while now and whatever it was, was troubling her more than ever.
She wasn't too surprised when Ororo suddenly pushed back from the table and announced that she was going to turn in early, taking her nearly untouched plate and clearing it into the disposal. Always conscientious, Ororo never threw away food, so seeing that worried the redhead even more.
She barely noticed as Logan got up a few minutes later, grabbing his beer off the table and heading towards the back door. Obviously, he was growing tired of Scott's constant glare. It seemed everyone but the kids were in a bad mood tonight, she noted.
Don't forget to R&R . I look forward to honest opinions. Thanx. ~Trilogy