Art Lessons

Title: Alter-Eighteen: Art Lessons Author: Terri Email: xgrrl26@yahoo.com Rating: NC-17 Summary: Alternative version of events in the movie and in the eighteen series. Jean and Logan head out to warn Marie of danger. Logan ends up sticking around for some art lessons. Disclaimer: They're not mine, but I'm being pretty nice to them this time anyway. Archive: Ask, and ye shall receive. Feedback: Please? With a cherry on top? Author's Notes: This is for Jennifer Hallmark, who requested a PWP - this is probably as close as I can get while also trying to work on doing my taxes :) This started out as another take on "Eighteen Past the Hour" and quickly descended into naughtiness. It's really just a flimsy excuse for a little smutty interlude. And if I might add a word of caution from my own personal experiences  water-based paint comes off much more easily than oil-based. Much, much more easily. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This oughta be another fuckin' boring mission. Hell, 'mission' - it's really more babysittin'. Pickin' up some college kid in Anchorage, a mutant with deadly skin. Magneto's after her - she don't know that yet - and we're gonna try to get to her first. 'Cause we're the x-men. Mutant babysitters. Shit, it's probably been a year since we even had a good fight. That go-round with Sabretooth was damn good, but it's been a year. I'm dyin' for some action. I mean, that's the pitch Chuck recruited me with five years ago - look, Logan, here's your chance to kick ass on a regular basis without gettin' thrown in jail for it, and not just any ass, oh no, super-mutant ass. Sounded like fun to me, but the reality is that ass-kickin's rare. These kinda things - pickin' up mutants - that's much more par for the course. I gotta talk to Chuck soon or some shit 'cause I'm gettin' sick of playin' on this course. "Are we almost there yet?" "About another twenty minutes, Logan." Jeannie's still a little pissed at me for fussin' about goin' on this trip. 'All missions are important, Logan.' Yeah, yeah. The whole world hinges on whether we can convince a little girl to come to Westchester before big, bad bucket-head gets her. Whatever. You know, I still don't quite understand why she left me for Scooter. I mean, that first month that I got there, she was all over me. Next month, coolin' down, but still pretty good. Third month, I get the Dear John speech. She said she just didn't love me - well, no shit, that's not what it was all about - and that meant she had to end the relationship. I get that part - Jeannie's the kinda woman that wants to be in love. And that wasn't happenin' between us and wasn't gonna. I get it. But - Scooter? I mean, I just can't even imagine him havin' sex with any kinda passion, and as much as she needs love, she needs that too. Ah, well, what can ya do? She's made her decisions, and it gave me a chance to be with some damn fine women over the years - 'Ro, some teachers, some scientists, some of those mutant rights people who come see the professor every now and then, Betsy. Betsy was a good one, yessir. That woman knows what she's doin'. Uh-huh. Bitchy as hell, but great in the sack. It's about time for a new woman. Last time with Betsy was about three weeks ago. Chuck once asked me why my relationships never last more than six months. Maybe that'll be somethin' to try with the next one. Seven months. See if I can make it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You know, Jubes, I just don't like it that much." "But it's your best one, chica! It's great!" "You're biased - you're my best friend. You have to say that." "Nuh-uh. I'd totally tell you if it sucked." KNOCKKNOCKKNOCK "Jubes, you expecting anyone? Tell anyone to drop by?" "No. Oooh! Maybe it's that hot guy you met at the laundromat!" "I didn't give him my address. Huh. Who is it?" "I'm Doctor Jean Grey. I'm looking for a Marie Matheson." "Hang on, coming......Hello. I'm Marie. Um, how can I help you?" "Hello, Marie. I'm Jean and this is my colleague Logan. We're from the Xavier Institute in Westchester, New York. We know this is somewhat unusual and on short notice, but we were hoping we might speak with you for a few moments." "Um...what about?" "Well, that's a somewhat delicate subject. May we come in?" "I'm sorry, but I don't usually invite strangers into my apartment. Um,especially strangers that wear that much black leather. No offense." "Yes, uh, I understand that this must seem a little strange to you. Marie, have you ever heard of the X-Men?" "Yeah, the mutants who - oh, wait - they wear black leather. You're X-Men?" "Yes, yes we are. May we come in?" "Um, ok, I guess. This is - this is my friend, Jubes." "Hola." "Hello. I'm Jean, this is Logan." "Coolness. Look, Marie, babe, I have class now. Gotta buzz, chica. You gonna be OK with the dominatrix duo?" "Grrrr." "Whoa, dude, did you just, like, growl at me?" "He's sorry. Isn't that right, Logan?" "Yeah. Whatever." "Uh-huh. Look, call Mr. Johnson if they get outta hand. See ya babe." "Bye, Jubes. Later." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Girl's young, real young. Maybe twenty. Cute. Nice rack. Kinda got a weird face - real big eyes, prominent cheekbones, full lips - any one of those by themselves just wouldn't look right, but together, they work pretty well for her. Wonder what's up with those white streaks in her hair. Maybe that's the latest fashion statement, who the hell knows. Maybe it's 'cause she's tryin' to be some kinda eccentric artist or somethin'. Profile said she was an art student. I always thought art was kinda useless myself. Who the hell needs pretty pictures to look at? Well, at least she's takin' this in stride pretty much. I mean, a lot better than I woulda. Jeannie's tryin' to explain it real gently, but there's no easy way to tell someone a bunch of evil mutants are after them. She hasn't said a thing, she's just hearin' Jeannie out. "So, Marie, we're prepared to offer you a home at the Institute, if you'd like. We'd suggest staying there until the threat from Magneto has been taken care of, at the very least. Do you have any questions?" "No, no I think I understand what you're saying. I appreciate you coming to warn me and everything, but, I think I'll stay here, thanks." What? You know, she doesn't look like she's stupid, but there's that sayin' about looks bein' deceiving. "Marie, you'd be in great danger if you stay here alone." "Dr. Grey - " "Please, call me Jean." "Jean - you know what my mutation is, right? I think that gives me a fair chance at defending myself. I've got friends and neighbors here - we're a pretty tight-knit bunch - they'd help me out. This is my home. I'm not big on the idea of letting someone run me out of my home." "Look, kid, he ain't playin'. Accordin' to our information, he's got a machine that - " "I heard Jean when she explained that part. It's my home. I'm not leaving. If he wants to try to attack me or something, well, he'll be sorry he did." She's got balls, this one, I'll give her that. "What if you're wrong? What if he gets a hold of you? What then, kid? You'd be screwed." "Look, I've - I've met up with Magneto and his crew before. To be honest - Mystique? Well, her real name is Laura Matheson." "Matheson - but that's - that's your last name." Jeannie's a little slow on the uptake. I can tell just by the way she said it, Mystique's some relation to her. Never woulda guessed that. "Yes, it is. She's my mother." "Y-your mother?!" "Look, kid, if you think she's gonna protect you from Magneto - " "No, I know she won't. We're not......we're not close." She looks real sad right now. Well, I would be too if I had a mother like that bitch. "You said you met up with Magneto before - what happened?" Jeannie's suspicious now 'cause of Mystique. She's smellin' a set-up of some sort. This kid's fuck-all too innocent for that shit, though. "He wanted me to join up with him. I didn't want to. He tried to get Sabretooth to convince me. It didn't work." "That's the short story, huh?" I can imagine Sabretooth woulda been pretty convincin'. Her skin must be lethal as hell to put that fucker down. "Yeah. So, I know what I'm getting into. I'd rather face them on my home turf. Look, I've worked really hard to build a life, not to become what my mother has. I'm not going to run away from all that just because Magneto got some bug up his butt about using me for his little mutating machine. Thanks, but no thanks." Spirited, that's for sure. Gotta admire that. "If you ain't gonna go, we'll stay. Right, Jeannie?" I mean, all the spirit in the world ain't gonna help her when push comes to shove. And if she's already gotten away from Sabretooth once, I wouldn't trust her luck to do it twice. Plus, I'm just itchin' for a good fight and that's almost a guarantee if they come after her. "What? Logan? I can't - I can't stay, I have to go back to the mansion. I'm on duty at the medlab and - " "Then I'll stay myself. Send someone back with my stuff. See if Chuck wants anyone else to come out 'cause I'm not gonna be shit for any good against Magneto." "Why wouldn't you be any good against Magneto?" I can understand why she'd think I would be - I mean I do look pretty bad-ass and especially in all this leather. Well.......maybe just pop the claws. That's easier than explainin' with words. "Ooh! Are those - what kind of mutation is that?" She's not afraid, just curious. Huh. In fact, she's even reachin' out to touch 'em and - oh, that feels damn good. No one - no one's ever touched 'em before. "It's, um, metal. It was put into me. My mutation's healing - I heal from just about anythin'. My whole skeleton's reinforced with metal. That's why Magneto'd just about own my ass." "Someone did that to you? Good God....." She's still touchin' 'em. Fascinated. You know, I don't really wanna put 'em back in. I'll wait until she's done touchin' 'em. "Yeah. Sucks." There, she's done. Back in. I've never seen quite that look on someone before - almost like part apology for bein' so curious, part apology for the claws bein' there in the first place and some kinda weird....I dunno.....approval. Like - that's OK. The claws are fine. "Whaddya say Jeannie?" "All right, Logan. I'll go back and send someone. All right." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So, can I get you anything?" She's got a nice place here. Weird to think of mutants, especially ones like her with such a severe mutation, livin' on their own, away from the mansion. Almost every single little dumb ass mutant babysittin' assignment we've been on has ended up with them comin' with us. A few had families that wanted 'em or somethin' like that, but for the most part, they jumped at a chance to come to Xavier's. "Coffee? Soda? Beer?" "What kinda beer you got?" "Uh, Molson Golden, Molson Ice, Molson Canadian....." I think I like this girl. ".....um, and one Guinness." I definitely like this girl. "I've got bourbon, scotch, and vodka too, if you'd like." Yep. She's a keeper. "I'll take a Canadian. You like Molson, huh?" "You mean there are other beers?" Nice smile, good smell. Wonder if she's attached. "Not that I know of, darlin'." Little laugh there. "You got anythin' to eat?" "Um...pretzels. There's just chocolate chips, beer, and paint in the fridge. Sorry. I meant to go shopping." "Pretzels it is then. Why do ya keep paint in the fridge?" "The white seems to lighten better when it's cold." OK, I have no idea what that meant, really. "Hey - would you mind - would you mind me painting you? I've been wanting to do a person-inspired picture for a while." "Um, do you want me to pose or somethin'?" That would definitely be a first. "No, not really. I don't really work that way. More like - I'd like to paint the picture of you in my head and the thoughts and feelings that come out of that. You don't really have to do anything but hang out and watch me paint." "OK." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Tell me about yourself. It'll help me paint." She's been workin' on that canvas for about an hour now. Good taste in music - a little country, a little rock. She's got paint all over her - clothes, face, hair. "Well, not much to tell. Don't really remember a lot 'bout my past. When I got this metal in my body, they took my memories too." Lettin' out a little exasperated sigh. Maybe that's not what she wanted to hear. Hell, it ain't exactly a happy story. "There's just no end to the suck of that story, is there? I don't mean to be facetious, but that's even worse than what they did to your body to me." "Yeah. It is." That's really all there is to say about that. "Tell me somethin' about you." "Anything in particular you'd like to know?" "Got a boyfriend?" She's peekin' out form behind the canvas with a naughty little smile. "No. Broke up with the last one about three months ago." "Had a lot of 'em, then?" 'Cause she seems like a one-guy-woman. "Not really, no. Twelve, in all. It's just.....I can never seem to make a relationship work. There's always my skin - that's a big problem right there - and there's also a part of it that's just me, just something......I don't know." "Your skin ain't that big of a problem. Shit, I almost killed more than one woman with these claws - wakin' up in the middle of the night from some nightmare, lungin' out to kill before I knew it." Jean, Betsy, and that doctor - the surgeon, Kelly. Don't really know why I mentioned the nightmares. Even when I took a chunk outta Jean's arm with the claw, I didn't admit it was a nightmare. Thank God I didn't hurt none of 'em too bad. Jeannie was the worst - fourteen stitches. "I have nightmares too. It's - it's how I got these streaks in my hair. Sabretooth attacked me, almost killed me. I've got a bad left knee, nightmares, these gray hairs, and a lot of scars across my back from his claws." Musta been bad. Musta been real bad to make her hair go white like that. "Let's talk about somethin' else." 'Cause I'm gettin' hyped to kick Sabretooth's ass and he hasn't shown up yet. "Yeah. Let's see, something happier. Hmm....what's the most fun you've had in the last year?" "Fun?" I don't have fun. Yeah, I kick ass, and that's fun, and I like sex, and that's fun, but not fun, like, you know, happy fun. "Yes, you are familiar with the concept, no?" Teasin'. I think she's teasin' me. "Yeah, I'm familiar with the concept. I guess - I guess fixin' up my bike. I got a real nice Indian from a junk yard and rebuilt it. I guess that was fun." "That does sound like fun. I kind of think of painting like that - building something, making it work." "Are you good at it?" I really can't tell from the paintings 'round her house. They look nice, but I don't know shit about art. "I think I can be, one day. I'm still learning and experimenting." "Isn't it the kinda thing you're just good at or not?" "No, I don't think so. I mean, I think you either have some natural talent or not, but the more you work on it, the more you develop that talent. It's probably the same with fixing things mechanically - you'd have to have some natural inclination, some talent to do that well, but the more you practiced the better you'd get at it." Huh. Never really thought of fixin' things as 'talent' before. "How long is it gonna take you to finish paintin' that?" "You curious?" Teasin' again. "A little. I mean, you're paintin' me, after all." She's peekin' out from behind the paintin' again. "That I am. So tell me more about you. Something else." "I've been with the X-Men for five years. I'm Canadian, I think. I don't like to be cold, but I like livin' where it is cold. I like hockey. I like fightin'. Brawlin' or with the X-Men, either. Don't really have much else to say." Her paintin' picked up. She's workin' furiously now. "What about - do you believe in God?" Don't think I've ever really been asked that before. Don't really give it much thought. "Hmm. He hasn't done me too many favors. What about you?" "I believe in God. I don't think - I mean, I was raised Catholic, but I don't think God is like what the church says. I don't think it's all about following rules, or stuff like that. And hey - if you don't believe in God, who are you going to swear at when things get really bad?" That's funny. "What else you wanna know?" This ain't bad duty. Sittin'. Talkin'. Drinkin' beer. If every one of these mutant babysitting assignments was like this, I'd be first in line for 'em. "Have you ever been in love?" "No." "No hesitation, you don't need to think about it, just - no?" "Yeah. What about you?" "Once. About three years ago. Or at least I loved him." "He didn't love you?" Why do the words 'dumb ass' pop right into my head when I think about the guy? "Nope. He left me after six months. Now, come to think about it, I don't think I've been with anyone more than six months.....Hey! Why are you laughing?" "Could say exactly the same for myself." "Well, we're both safe from stable relationships, then." She looks good laughin'. "What else?" "What, you're outta deep questions?" "I'm going to have to really concentrate on the painting now. I'm finishing up." You know, I'm actually pretty damn curious to see what it looks like. "I dunno what else you wanna know." "Whatever else you'd want to tell me. Just talk." She is workin' hard on it now. Lotsa paint all over her hands and flyin' everywhere else too. "I don't know nothin' about art." "There's not a lot you really need to know. Art is kind of different for everybody, I think. Very personal. I think anything that moves you, that creates an emotional or intellectual reaction in you is art." "Say somethin' about you." "I like you. You're interesting." "That's about me." But I liked hearin' it, that's for sure. "It's about me too. I like.....I like painting better than drawing and drawing better than sculpture. I like rain and snow. I like cloudy days better than sunny days. I like having a home of my own, my own place. I like that a lot." "That why you don't wanna leave and go to Westchester?" "Yeah. I fought really hard to be able to have a safe place of my own to live. I know it's just an apartment, one half of a duplex. But it's mine. I pay for it, nobody can kick me out, and if I don't want someone here, I can kick them out." I can relate to that. It's one of the things that bugs me about livin' at Chuck's - yeah, I got my own room, but if Chuck says I get out, I get out. If I don't want Jeannie or Scooter droppin' by, I can't really do nothin' about it. I miss bein' on my own a lot, actually. Even when it was just the truck and camper - it was mine and I did what I liked in it. "Hey - speaking of me staying here - shouldn't we have heard from Jean by now?" Shit. Forgot all about that. Drinkin' beer and talkin'. "Let's give her another half hour or so. If she doesn't check in by then, I'll call. Could just be that somethin' came up - she's the only doctor there and sometimes it gets a little hectic." "Sounds good." She stopped paintin' all of a sudden. Now she's puttin' down the brush. Hmmm. "Done?" "Yeah. Yeah, I think so." "Can I look?" She's smilin' real big at the canvas and I'm just gonna head on over there and take a - whoa. Whoa. She wasn't kiddin' when she said it was thoughts and feelings and shit 'cause this don't remotely look like me. It's all color and vague shapes and swirls. Lots of blue and grey, with brown in there too. You'd think that'd all clash, but she made it not. Guess that's the talent part. "What do you think?" "I like it. I don't really understand how you got this from me, but I like it." "You don't see it?" "See what?" "Come here, step back." She's pullin' me to the far side of the room and - huh. Huh. "See it now?" "Yeah." When you step back away, you can see the outline of my claws - three of them. That's what the grey is. You'd never see it up close and I wonder how the hell she did that without steppin' back to look at it while she was paintin' it. "You don't like it." Frownin'. "No, no - just - I don't like the claws. I don't like my claws." That came right out. "Sorry. I - I didn't mean to offend you. I don't think of you as synonymous with them. There's a lot of you in there, not just that. There's your hair - the brown, how it's all wild and pointy, and your eyes - the browny-green that's in there. Those shapes - those are your temples, and those are your shoulders. The blue - that's - well, that's calm." "Calm? You think of me as calm?" Either she missed the boat totally, or she's seein' somethin' that everybody else - and I mean EVERYBODY else - has missed, 'cause - "No, that's the reaction I have to you. When you said you'd stay, when you agreed with me staying here, it calmed me." I didn't really mean to grab her and haul her up against me all of a sudden like that, but somethin' about the way she said that, somethin' about the way she's lookin' at me makes me wanna have her real close, and right now. "I like it. I like it a lot." "Oh." She's lookin' up at me and she's not upset I did it. She's not upset. She's lookin' at me all open and relaxed. And wanting. She wants me. Well, gonna do somethin' about that. Just gonna grab the edge of that little scarf she's got on - it's got paint all over most of it, but it'll do to kiss her with. Like this. "Mmmm....." She liked it. She liked it. "Hey, Marie." I know this is too fast, way too fast. I just met the girl this mornin'. But if she's feelin' half of what I'm feelin'......."Let's - do you wanna go into the bedroom?" That ain't the smoothest way of askin' but - "My skin - I - " No worries, darlin'. I got an idea. "Paint." "What?" She's breathin' heavy now, and I can't keep my hands offa her body. She wants to too. "I could cover some of your skin in the paint." Her eyes widened at that and her heartbeat sped up too. "OK." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- She gave me five or six colors, and the white that was in the refrigerator. I laid her out on the bed, naked. She explained to me how she'd had sex with other boyfriends using tights and a condom, but I want her all naked for now. There's a big white sheet underneath her to catch the paint without ruinin' the bed. I'm no artist, not by a long shot, but I got the idea into my head to paint her, really paint her like she said with colors that mean thoughts and feelings. I've got these big, rough hands, and I don't know nothin' about makin' a paintin', but I got it in my head to paint her, to paint her the way I see her. I'm gonna start by paintin' her face. With red mixed with a little white - pink the way she blushes and how her face colors when she laughs. Pink across her cheeks and forehead, mixin' with and coverin' some of the other traces of color already on her face from paintin'. She's holdin' my eyes the whole time, and - brown, I should paint part of her brown - she's got those big brown eyes and all that brown hair. Brown isn't exactly the right word for it - there's some fancy color like chestnut or somethin' that is better, but I'm not too fancy. Brown. I'm gonna put some brown across her eyebrows and on her neck a little, get some in her hair too. She's gigglin' a little at that, and I like how she looked just then - Oh, oh, the way she squirmed underneath me just now - that's nice too. I like that. Time to move on to her shoulders. Those should be green, I think. Natural, strong but delicate. Yeah, green. She's moanin' a little - just soft little noises as my fingers trace her collarbones. That's gettin' me hot. Breasts next. Definitely. And those - so beautiful, so perfect - those should be purple. Purple like royalty and like you see just a glimpse of in the northern lights. "Oh, Logan....." That feels good to her. I gotta be rubbin' the paint into her skin pretty good, but she said not to worry about that. I like that I'm markin' her like this, makin' her over like I see her. Stomach next. Don't really wanna leave the breasts, but I wanna finish paintin' her. I think a little yellow for her stomach. Dunno why, just seems right. Yellow, real pale yellow across her stomach and hip bones. Can't really use paint on her sensitive spots, so on to her legs. Legs are blue. Long and cool and perfectly shaped. Blue legs, deep blue legs. Tracing long lines of blue with my fingers down her thigh, pausin' at her knee a little, drawin' circles. All the way down to her ankles. "Roll over, baby." Blue back up her legs - I can feel her shiver when I trace across the back of each knee. Her rear end - nice and curvier than I thought at first - that should be red. I like red for that. Passion. Those curves make me feel passion and that's red. Gonna knead the color into her flesh, gonna make sure she's covered in it. Her back - I'm runnin' outta colors and I just think that - yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna do her back in handprints. My hands, with all the mixed up colors, all over that gorgeous back. She was right about the scars. They're bad. But I'm gonna mark her now with my hands. Gonna cover the scars with my colored handprints. "All done, darlin'." She's rollin' back over and she looks like she just wants to purr. "How do I look?" "Perfect. Like a work of art." There's a smile. A slow, pleased, affectionate smile. Of all the women I've been with, I can't really think of any that have looked at me with pure affection. "You move me." "Your hands feel just incredible on my body. You're - you're making me feel so much." Gonna take the scarf, the one with paint already all over it, and kiss her good. Her little hands are runnin' all over my leather outfit, and I can barely feel them on me. Got to get these clothes off. I wanna feel her. "Logan.....be careful. My skin...." "It's OK. Just - we'll wrap the sheet around you a little and I'll be careful." 'Cause I wanna feel her close to me. "Oh...." Her breasts are sensitive, very sensitive. She reacts strongly to the lightest touch. Gonna use the scarf here, 'cause, much as I like kissin' her, I want my mouth on her breasts. I wanna feel her react, make her want me more. "Oh!" Archin' her back up to me, God, that's good. I can taste the paint, but I can taste her too, and she even tastes purple here. That was the right color for sure. Love the way she's sighing and moaning a little. "Logan, th-that's so good...." "Let me - let me get the gloves." She said there might be one pair of hers that would fit and I hope like hell so. I really wanna touch her where I couldn't paint her. And I can smell how much she wants that too. "You doin' OK, darlin'?" "Never better. Please - please get my gloves too. I want to touch you. Please." "Here - here, baby." Thin, really sheer gloves. Those oughta feel - oh, damn! She meant touch me, really touch me, and - oh! "Is this OK?" God, I'm already so hard from paintin' her, and the way those little soft hands are movin' on me, I - "Logan?" "Y-yeah.....don't - don't stop...." She's leanin' toward me a little, carefully, tryin' to stay mostly covered with the sheet between us. God, her hands, the way she's strokin' me, squeezin' just enough, movin' just fast enough, just right. "Marie....don't stop....." "Look at me. Look at me, Logan." Those big brown eyes just lock on mine and it makes it so damn hard to hold on. Her hands on me, goin' faster now, faster and I - "Marie!" "Yes.....yes....." Harder and faster and I can smell her strong over the paint, even over the paint I can smell how bad she wants me, oh, God - "Marie, please, now!" "Yes....." And she is, she's givin' it to me just like I need, so close, so close now and those eyes, those big eyes - "Ah! Ah! Marie!" "Yes, Logan, yes." "Aaaahh!" Oh God, oh, oh, she kept my eyes the whole time, the whole time and that was so good and so strong that I just - "You're so beautiful, Logan. So beautiful." She must be lookin' at me through a different set of eyes, 'cause beautiful isn't a word people associate with me any more than calm. But I like that she does. I like that a lot. "Lie back baby. Your turn." I can use the scarf across her breasts - I can keep my mouth on her there, keep drawing reactions from her there while I touch her. Just gonna slide my hand between her legs, gonna go slow. She's already more than ready, but I wanna make it slow and good. "Mmmmm....." That was right. That was just right. Sliding a finger inside her, just one, just gently. Then stroking her, a little harder, a little faster, hittin' just the right spots. God, she's startin' to move all over the place - writhing, archin' her back, clutchin' at my head with those gloved hands. I wish I could just push those legs apart and bury my head there for the duration. She smells so good. "Logan, like that - just like that....please...." Thought that might do it for her pretty good - bitin' a little on her breasts and keepin' a pretty firm pressure goin' with my hand. Her hips are startin' to really move with my hand and God, she wants it, she wants it bad. "Logan....yes....." I could listen to her moan my name like that all night long. "Oh, God.....yes....." She's startin' to come close now. Startin' to give herself over to me. Come on, baby, come on. Let go. Let me take you there. "Oh!" Yeah, that's it. Come on, come on. I wanna smell you, I wanna feel it happen. "Logan! I - I - oh!" Almost, almost. Come on, please baby, let me do it for you, let me do this for you. "Ooooohhhhh!" There, there. Let go, Marie, let go all the way. "Aaaahhh!" Yeah, baby, yeah. "L-logannnn!" Love that. Love to hear my name comin' outta her like that, frantic and needin' me, and goin' over the edge. She's comin' down a little now. God, she looks so fuckin' exotic. White streaks in her hair, color all over her body. God, she looks unbelievable. "You liked that?" I wanna hear her tell me. I wanna hear her say it. "I loved it....you.....you.....I've never felt that good before......it was so good....." Yeah. Love it. Want it. Want me. "Marie, baby....." "Oh, Logan.....I can't move.....I can't.......oh, God......." "Just rest. Just rest. Baby, you're so amazing." Just gonna hold her. Just gonna wrap the sheet around her a little and bring her right up close to me. Love this. So good. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Didn't mean to fall asleep like that. Only been out for about an hour, though. God, she's even cute when she sleeps, even with paint all over her like this. "Mmmm..." Shit, I'm wakin' her up, runnin' my hands over her like that. "Logan?" "Yeah, darlin'. You can go back to sleep if you want." "Mmm....no, it's OK. I'm up." The way she plopped her head back down on me would seem to indicate otherwise. "Did Jean call?" Fuck, forgot about that. She definitely should have by now. Somethin' must be up. "No. I gotta - hang on - let me get outta bed here. I gotta call her." I think I left the cell phone in my uniform pants. I wonder if paint comes outta leather. "Do you think something went wrong?" She's sittin' up with the sheet around her and I really kinda wish she hadn't done that 'cause it just makes me wanna push her back down on the bed and - "Hello?" "Jeannie? What's up? You didn't call." "Oh, Logan! I'm so sorry! We - Magneto tried to intercept me on the way back to Westchester. I guess he just assumed we had Marie on the plane." "You all right?" "Fine, fine. Scott and Hank and the Professor came to my rescue before Magneto could do too much damage to me or the plane. He's back in custody, and so is Sabretooth. Mystique got away, though, and it's just been chaotic for the past few hours. Sorry I didn't call. I can - I think I can send Scott back to get you in a few hours." "Uh, hang on a sec, Jeannie." Wonder what she'd say if I asked..... "Hey, Marie - they got Magneto and Sabretooth. Mystique's still on the loose, but the situation's under control." "Oh, wow. Well, thank God. That's good news." "Yeah. Look - I, uh, they're askin' if they should send someone to get me. I, ah, I got some time off comin' and I was wonderin' what you thought about me stickin' around a while. I mean, might not be a bad idea in case Mystique - " "Yeah! I mean.....yeah. Stay. Stay." She looks pretty happy with that. There's that affection-look again too. I could get used to that. "Uh, Jeannie? Yeah. Look - just - just send someone with some of my clothes and stuff. Or just mail it to me. Tell Chuck I'm stayin' out here for a while, takin' some time off." "Logan.....please tell me you didn't sleep with that girl." Jeannie actually knows me pretty well. Plus, she's a telepath and a man can't keep all his thoughts in his head. I bet I was projectin' pretty good there for a while. "She's just givin' me some art lessons. I'd like to stick around for some more." Wicked smile now from Marie. "Art lessons, uh-huh. OK, fine. See you soon, then?" "Maybe. Later Jeannie." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You know, I didn't realize until just now what today was." "What's today?" Can't be the anniversary of one month at the cabin, not already. No, no it's only been three weeks since she said she'd go with me for the winter and it's only been two weeks since we got here. Maybe her birthday? No - that was four months ago. It's not my birthday, I don't know when the hell it is. "A year." "A year?" "A year since we met. A year that we've been together. That's my longest relationship ever." "Huh. Mine too." Shit, it don't seem like a year since that night I painted her. Don't seem that long at all. "It's a little scary." She's comin' over to sit in my lap now, puttin' her arms around me. "Yeah. But it's good, right?" "Oh, yeah. I - I really love you." Now, that's the first time she's said the L-word outside of bed. "I love you too, darlin'." And I do - that question she asked me that night - have I ever been in love? - well, now I'd answer yes. For sure. No hesitation, don't need to think about it. "I've got an idea...." Oh-oh. That's the naughty-Marie smile. That's made for some interesting times. Like the time we cleared off the kitchen table and I laid her out on it, or the time I bent her over my bike, or the time she caught me in the hallway at her place and braced both her feet on the opposite wall while I - "This time, I could paint you." Now, that got me goin' right there, just thinkin' about her hands - her hands covered just with paint - on me. But if we use up all the paint that way, she won't have much left for the rest of the winter to work with. "We have enough paint for that?" "I don't really care." Her hands are already headin' for my belt. I'm beginnin' to forget why I cared too. "I can always draw." Soft lips, bitin' and kissin' my shoulders through my shirt while her hands unbutton my jeans. "I like drawin'." I like how she's bitin' that spot on my neck even more, all playful and - "I love you. Let me paint you." Pullin' back to look at me, to make sure I heard it and to make sure I know. "Yeah, darlin'. Let's go." Art lessons with Marie once a year - I'm not a refined kinda guy, not by a long shot, but I think I could go for that.