He was watching her again, hazel eyes slitted to a golden gleam.

They were alone. She'd escaped into the grounds with a book, wanting the pretence of quiet time away from the madness of a mansion full of children. In truth, she was hiding. From Logan. But it was a mistake. She should've stayed with the crowd. The protecting herd.

Long rays of evening sunlight cut across the grass and bathed her bench, warming her exposed skin. Another mistake. The cure had worked for her. Her skin was safe and her head silent. The warmth of late May let her wear a short sundress, no shoes and legs and arms deliciously bared.

Skin that now prickled under the dark heat of Logan's gaze.

Her fingers tightened around the cover of her book and she read the first line for the fourth time in ten minutes. The time Logan had taken to stalk across the open lawn.

Marie remembered to breathe. His easy, animal grace had always been a joy to watch. Her secret thrill. But she would only ever be his friend, a skinny, starving kid he'd rescued. Nothing more. So she never pushed her attraction. She'd always wondered whether he thought, with the way her body went into overdrive around him, if she was asthmatic...and tachycardic.

Her book still wasn't making any sense. And she didn't have to look up to feel Logan's intense focus. He'd been watching her all day. The first hour she'd tried to laugh it off, slip into the easy friendship they'd shared before he pulled one of his disappearing acts and vanished into the frozen north.

It hadn't worked. Logan had growled at her, something low, dark and disturbing, his eyes flaring to a sharp gold. The sound raised the hairs on her arms and for the first time since she'd met him, she felt like prey.

From that moment on, she avoided him. Or she'd tried to. He was following her. Tracking her. It was these times she missed the men in her head. The Logan who'd lived there would know what the hell his flesh counterpart was playing at.

That would be when he wasn't grousing about needing his hit of nicotine or a slug of beer. A smirk pulled at her mouth and she made the mistake of looking up from her book. Logan had moved closer. He was there, leaning against one of the oaks that formed a ring to the rear of the mansion. No more than five feet away from her bench.

Sunlight cut across him, gleamed against the brown skin of his muscled arm and threw shadow over the rest of him, defining the perfection of his stomach and chest. Marie was still convinced he had his t-shirts sprayed on. Her gaze dropped almost involuntarily. That went for his jeans too.

Guilty at ogling Logan again, her gaze flicked back up to his face. His intense stare gripped her and she felt every inch of her bared skin respond to him. Her heart thudded and in the late spring heat it was suddenly hard to breathe. Yes, definitely asthmatic.

Marie swallowed, her throat tight, her mouth dry. Before he went north, little more than a month before, Logan had been his usual self. Moody, sure. Growling if someone interrupted his game, or God forbid, tried to take away his command of the remote; definitely. But he'd laughed. He hung out with Doctor McCoy. With Kurt. With her. He'd been more...

Fuck. Marie fixed her gaze on her book and read the first line for the fifth time, not wanting to process her last thought. The tight knot in her gut twisted. Logan had been more like a man. Whoever had come back from Canada this time wasn't.

The Professor or Jean would've tranked and dragged Logan down to the lower levels. Secured him and worked on who this stranger was. Marie closed her eyes and ignored the old pain. But they were gone and the school no longer housed strong telepaths.

Remy was an empath. Marie bit at the inside of her cheek. He and Logan...something had changed there too. Logan had grabbed Remy by the throat and held him up against the wall no more than an hour before. The distinctive slow slide of his claws cutting though his skin had silenced the demands of the suddenly gathered crowd in the cafeteria.

The gleaming tips of his claws had grazed Remy's eyelids. Not enough to break skin, but enough to scare the hell out of everyone else. The blades retracted and Logan leaned forward to whisper...something. What, no one knew. But Remy had blanched.

Marie closed her eyes, trying to push the awareness of the watching Logan from her thoughts. No, Remy wouldn't help. As she'd heard him mutter as he staggered away, he wouldn't piss on Logan if he were on fire.

So that left her. It always did. Logan was as much her responsibility as she was his. Or that's the way she saw it.

Marie closed her book and pushed herself to her feet. The warm brush of the grass against her bare toes skittered awareness up through her body. Even a year on, the sensation of touch could surprise her. She straightened her spine and met Logan's gaze. "Are you going to tell me what this is all about?" Good, her voice was calm, sure and didn't reflect the nervous twist of her stomach.

Logan's nostrils flared. His damn senses. No doubt he could smell her uncertainty just fine.

"Well?"

"You stink of him." His words came out on a low growl and anger flared in his golden eyes. "You don't like washing him off?"

Marie blinked and her cheeks reddened. Damn it, when was the last time she blushed? Was he talking about Remy? And the unexpected, but wanted, kiss they'd shared that morning? "You saying I smell, Logan?" She grabbed her courage and took a single step towards him. "Not a nice thing to say to a friend."

"I'm not your friend."

That hit her harder in the stomach than his adamantium-lined fist. "You're..." No other words would come out. Was that what he was doing here? Breaking ties? Would he vanish again...and never come back to the school? To her?

He pushed himself away from the tree and Marie swayed, back from him, towards him, she wan't quite sure. "Logan?"

"You fucked him yet?"

"What?"

He closed the short distance between them, towering over her, his face harsh in the sunlight. The hard gleam in his eyes turned her heart over. "Gambit." He said Remy's codename like a curse. "You fucked him?"

"That is none--"

Logan's hot hand was in her panties. How he moved so fast, she didn't know. But the skirt of her dress was up, his thick palm pressed against her mons... And, dear God, his fingers...

All too quickly he pulled free. Shaking, Marie pushed at her crumpled dress, not sure that it hadn't been some bizarre fantasy...until Logan sucked on his glistening fingers. She blushed again and anger cut through the quick pain and her insane shot of arousal. "What the fuck to you think you're doing!"

"Can't taste him." A dark smile pulled at his lips and she hated the way her heart turned over. "Can't taste anyone but you. And fuck, you're tight." His wet fingers stroked across her bottom lip. His smile deepened. "I tasted blood, Marie. I break something?"

"Fuck you." She turned on her heel and strode away. Yes, she'd been cured for a year, but that hadn't meant she'd slept with any and everyone. Her skin was insanely sensitive..and well, there was how she felt about Logan.

Her belly tightened, her body still hot and aching from the feel of his skin, his palm, his fingers pushing, thrusting into a place even she hadn't touched.

Remy had been an interest of the last few weeks. With Logan away... Shit, now she felt like she was betraying him. One kiss. Her first real one. One that didn't leave the man twitching at her feet. And she would not feel guilty about that. It had been...nice.

"You don't walk away from me."

Logan grabbed her arm and yanked her back to him.The heat of his skin against hers forced a shocked gasp from her. People didn't just...touch her. The hesitancy was still too ingrained, in them and in her. "Why do you stink of him?"

Marie glared up at Logan. Whatever the hell was going on with him, it had nothing to do with her sex life, or lack of it. She still couldn't quite believe he'd stuck his hand where he had. "I kissed him. He didn't go into a coma. It was all good."

"You kissed him?"

There was that low growling again, the one that ran a shiver under her skin. "It's allowed."

He lifted an eyebrow and Marie knew she'd said exactly the wrong thing. A smile twitched at his mouth. "Is it?" He barrelled her back until her spine hit the rough bark of a tree. Breath burst from her, but she could only stare up at him as his thick palm cupped her jaw. "Well, then, that makes it my turn, doesn't it, darlin'?"

"Logan..."

He took her parted mouth, his tongue hot, his teeth clashing with hers. This wasn't Remy's slow, easy kiss with the warm promise of a slow awakening of the sexuality she'd ignored for so long. Fuck, no. Logan devoured her.

He growled and pushed hard against her, his hand at her neck, her jaw, the other hand gripping her ass. His fingers squeezed. Fuck. She'd have the bruised imprint of his hand on her backside for weeks. Marie groaned, wanting more of him. She fisted her hand in his crazy hair.

"Here."

Logan broke the kiss and buried his face in her neck. His mouth, this teeth seared her skin and heat blistered through her flesh. Spots danced across her vision, and the hot pulse between her thighs made thinking about anything else impossible.

"Here. I want to take you here."

Joy broke over her, swift and sudden, the need in his voice, the way he bit her skin thickening the desire in her flesh. The quick release wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. "Yes." Her growl almost echoed his. "I'm yours."

"Fuckin' right you are."

He stood back from her and the shadow-cooled air washed away the fierce heat of his body. Marie shivered. Was it over? Had he just declared she was his and that was it? Anger cut through her...but Logan was watching and a dark humour shone in his still-gold gaze.

"I'm not done with you." He dropped to his knees, creating deep hollows in the earth from his weight. Hot hands stroked over her knees. He pushed upwards, the tingle of want keeping her breath short and a smile twitched across his mouth. He nuzzled against the crease of her thigh. His low, vibrating growl ran heat deep into the flesh. She made out one word. "Mine."

Marie closed her eyes as he eased up the thin material of her skirt, until the smooth hair on this jaw tickled her skin. She sucked in a quick breath, not quite able to believe that it was Logan who pressed kisses below her navel, whose fingers pulled away her panties, whose tongue--

"Dear God..."

His low laughter skittered heat through her flesh as his thumbs stroked her inner thighs and he urged her legs to part further.

How was this happening? What the hell had happened in Canada for him to grab her and take her on his first day back? Not that she was complaining. Not one damn bit.

Marie caught her fingers in his hair, holding him to her, finding the strength to stay standing, because his mouth, his tongue, his teeth found her, tasted her. Ate her.

His soft groans, the growls danced pleasure through her, twisted it deeper and deeper into her body, tension rioting fire, and dear God...

She cried out, scattering birds from the trees, as her release surged over her in a wild rush that caught her, burst around her...and Logan moving, grabbing her, spreading her--

Pain. Pain as he thrust into her, buried himself inside of her, his hands hard around her thighs, her spine pushed against the rough bark of the tree.

Marie stared at him, her eyes blurred with tears. She gripped his arms, her fingers biting into solid muscle, trying to remember how to breathe.

"Say my name." He growled the words against her mouth and he pushed his hips forward, the rough denim scratching against her thighs. "Say it."

Pain and arousal burned through her. "Logan..."

His growl deepened. "Say my name."

Marie let out a tight breath, her heart pounding. She pulled a hand away from his arm to press her palm to his cheek. She couldn't stop the tremor. That was the difference in him. The animal was out to play. "Wolverine."

The dark smile he gave her forced her to bite her bottom lip. "He was afraid to take what was his." He rolled his hips and her body, almost grown used to him, flickered heat up through her belly. A low growl escaped him. "Fucking idiot for denying us this."

Marie closed her eyes, the effort of seeing the alien pleasure on his face too much. She'd only experienced hints of the Wolverine. Even in her mind, Logan had blocked him, reined him in. "How...?"

"Did I break free?" He pulled back and the delicious friction dragged a low moan from her. He grinned against her mouth, until he bit her lip and thrust deep again. Marie cried out against him, the confusion of pain and joy a riot in her flesh. "Who the fuck cares? I'm buried balls deep in the sweetest pussy I will ever have." His forehead touched hers and the intimate gesture broke new pleasure through her. "You're mine, Marie."

She kissed him, a tease of her mouth across his. "Yes." Her tongue tasted his upper lip and she pushed her hips down, the thickness of his cock stretching her. She'd always craved the hint of the animal in Logan, the wildness that he fought so hard to deny. Wanted that as much as the man he was. Now she had him. And he would have her. "Fuck me."

Wolverine snarled, but increased her slow rhythm. "Careful what you ask for, Marie."

"I want you as much as I want him." She wet her lips, her heart pounding. Admitting this to him had her nerves twisting. The Wolverine was wild, untamed. Dangerous. Addictive. "I always have."

His golden eyes flared and he bared his teeth in a vicious smile. "Good enough."

Wolverine's hands gripped her ass, strong fingers digging into her flesh. He growled against her mouth and it ran liquid heat through her. It was insane. But she couldn't, wouldn't stop. He was claiming her. And it was about damn time. "Yours."

His growl deepened and he thrust hard, twisting his hips and grinding himself against her sensitive flesh. Heat spiralled. She fought to think, to breathe. And failed.

"No one else's." His teeth caught her lip and the quick pain and the copper taste of blood drove her to meet every fierce stroke. "You need what I am. You're gonna fuckin' have what I am."

His words burned. "Logan...?"

"Wolverine."

His name came with a thrust that broke a cry from her. The tension coiling in her belly tightened. "Yes." The word was a raw moan. Marie crushed her eyes, wanting to lose herself in the fierce heat of his skin bleeding through his t-shirt, the low rumble of his growling, his hard grip, the relentless drive of him into her body. Wanting everything. Everything about him.

"Look at me."

"I..." Marie forced her eyes open, meeting the golden fire in his gaze.

"You're with me, Marie."

Her heart hammered. She wanted him. She loved him. Needed the feared animal as well as the man, but the sudden intimacy of seeing the wild desire, the terrifying need he had for her caught her breath. It hit her hard. The animal fucked her. Not Logan.

"Scared?" The question seared against her mouth. Something lurked in his gaze, a darkness. Anger. "You wanted this. You fucking begged for this."

Marie fisted her hand in his hair and took his mouth. She was not giving him the chance to get angry, pissed off and run. Not now. Not ever.

She swallowed his growl, her tongue tangling with his, teeth clashing as they fought to kiss, to fuck and... Dear God.

Fire and wild joy smashed over her. Her body wasn't her own. She couldn't stop her long, low keen, the sudden snapping tension in her body, one that drove her down against him. Another white flare of joy broke over her. She shook. And still the Wolverine fucked her, chasing the echoes of her release.

He buried his face against her neck, his thrusts uneven. His growl pushed through her body, his teeth breaking her skin. Pain and want burst through her.

"Wolverine." She whispered his name, her fingers caught in his hair. "Fuck me like you want to. Like you need to."

His hands tightened on her ass, his strokes sudden and fierce. He snarled. Marie held on. Pain. She bit through her lip, tasting more blood. But that was right. Blood and pain and sex. Binding them together.

A final thrust and he roared, crushing her to him, his face buried in her hair, every muscle tight. "Marie..."

A fist tightened around her heart. And now he was as much hers as she was his. She closed her eyes and her head fell back against the rough bark of the tree. Wolverine was hers. Logan was a different matter.

He looked up and his gaze narrowed on her mouth. He licked her lip and the sting of her cut forced a wince.

A dark smile lifted his mouth. "You taste sweet."

"Wolverine..."

His golden gaze narrowed and he rolled his hips against hers. The sudden shock of it hitched her breath. "You're not escaping now."

"I--"

"Marie!" Jubilee's sharp voice echoed and carried across the open grass beyond the circle of trees.

His growl rippled across her flesh. "I ain't sharing you." He pulled in air, scenting it. "And them seeing you like this is sharing." He eased back and Marie dropped her legs to the earth. He snatched up her panties. She dug in her toes, her blood fizzing, but still she wobbled and he gripped her arm. His quick fingers smoothed down her dress and arranged her hair over the bite marking the curve of her shoulder. She blinked, surprised by his hiding evidence of their time together.

"I don't need to prove to the Cajun that you're mine."

"Remy?"

The low bitter rumble in his throat forced a shiver over her skin. It made her wonder exactly what he'd said to Remy earlier in the cafeteria. Had he warned him off?

He walked her quickly, quietly to the bench and pointed to her to sit. He handed her book.

Marie held it in numb hands. What was going on? Wolverine had threatened Remy, taken her hard and fast against a tree...but now others might see, he was almost...hiding what they'd shared? She was thankful. She didn't want Jubilee to see that. Yet. This was the Wolverine. Brash, proud, completely alpha.

Her face flushed. Had he just fucked her because she was easy? Wanted the trophy of her virginity before Remy took it? But wouldn't he then he bragging? She stared blankly at her open book. Fuck, she was confused.

"Would you want them to see me eating you?" He lounged at the other end of the bench, sunlight stark across his face. His voice was low, deep...and it ran fresh need though her still aching body. And he knew it. "Let them see me with my tongue in your pussy, licking, tasting you, tasting me inside you... Fuck." His chest lifted with a heavy, indrawn breath. "Say the word, darlin' and I'm there."

Her fingers tightened around her book until her knuckles were bloodless. "Logan..."

He frowned. "Marie--"

"Marie, there you are!" Jubilee burst into the secluded grove, a brilliant shine of vivid yellow. Marie caught Wolverine wincing. Her friend's gaze jumped to him. Her fingers flexed and a shine of energy teased across her knuckles. "Logan."

"You wanted something?" Marie dragged Jubilee's attention back to her. From the corner of her eye, she caught Remy hanging back by the trees. His red-black eyes gleamed and she pushed down a shiver. "I'm just..." She waved her book vaguely, squashing her emotions, realising that Remy probably already knew exactly what had happened minutes before.

"We…I…" Her gaze flicked to the silent Wolverine who still lounged just a foot away from Marie on the bench. "…was worried."

"I'm here. Nothing to worry about."

Logan's low growl made Jubilee step back, but her spine straightened. She lifted her chin. "Wolvie, right now you're a clusterfuck waiting to happen." Her mouth thinned. "No offence."

A smile lifted his lip. "None taken."

Jubilee blinked. She pressed her hands together and golden sparks lit the air. "Okay." She took another step back. "Coming, Marie?"

Marie closed her eyes. Not the right words to use. Not the right ones at all. She looked to Logan and found an answering shine in his eyes. His mouth twitched. Damn him. She pulled in a cleansing breath. She did need to get away--just for a short time. Her head was a mess. She was a mess.

"Go ahead." Logan tilted his head to one side. Sunlight carved his features and for a long moment his beauty caught her. He probably knew that too. "I'll catch up with you later."

Marie pushed herself onto unsteady feet and closed her unread book. He was dismissing her? Is that what a feral did? Her heart twisted. All of this insanity was so sudden. It didn't feel quite…real. And was that a promise that he would find her that night? She met Jubilee's gaze and the hard shine there, the thin line of her mouth said she knew exactly what had happened too.

"Marie."

Her attention snapped back to Logan. "Jubes, I'll catch you up."

"Two minutes."

Marie didn't watch her leave. Her focus was on Logan. She closed the short distance, standing between his legs. His hand toyed with the hem of her dress, his fingertips stroking over her knee. A hot pulse tightened in her belly as his fingers skimmed upwards, hot, fleeting strokes over her sensitive and damp inner thigh…but he stopped and his hand was gone. She couldn't hold back her soft sigh of disappointment.

His fingers found his mouth again. He gave her his sharp grin. "Sweet and sticky." He straightened, his lips tantalisingly level with her breasts. Her nipples peaked as his breath warmed the material. Golden eyes held her as he looked up. "I keep what's mine. I never share."

Marie fought to think. She couldn't let the need she had to have him cloud her thoughts. This was Logan. He'd never touched her, blatantly ignored her lusting after him. Her loving him. Fear twisted and she pushed down the panic that Logan was lost to her. He wasn't. Whatever had gone down, he needed time to recover. "What happened in Canada? Logan? Where is he?"

"Worried?" He nuzzled her breast, pulling her to him. She stroked through his hair, luxuriating in his heat, his familiar scent of leather and the hint of cigars and her right to touch him. That one had her heart beating too fast. His soft growl threaded through his words. "You've got me."

She pressed a kiss to his forehead and closed her eyes. Had that been a buried hint of pain in his voice? His animal self, always pushed back, always denied finally had freedom now. She had to allow him his time too. "My Wolverine," she murmured. His hands tightened and he pulled in a heavy breath. She smiled. "Always."

"I can't fuck you in under a minute." His growl vibrated through her breast bone and she squirmed against him. "Go." He eased back and pulled her panties from his pocket. His eyebrow lifted. "Want these back?"

Her face flushed, Marie snatched them from him and pulled them on, wriggling as she tried to keep herself covered. It was still too new. Want and nerves still ran through her. Logan's low laugh only deepened her blush. "See if you get any later." She pressed her lips together and let out a silent curse. His bark of laughter didn't help her embarrassment.

"You're mine, Marie. I keep what's mine. I take what's mine." He teased his fingers over her mons and she sucked in a quick breath. "Go. I'll find you. Later."

Wolverine gave her a sharp grin that forced her to ball her hands into fists. He was so fucking beautiful. And hers. Completely hers. She wanted to launch herself at him, strip him. Fuck him till he roared again. Shit, had he left so much of a feral in her soul, her flesh when she touched him? Something even the cure couldn't kill? His eyes gleamed. He knew he had. And he'd claimed his right to it.

Marie backed away, jabbing a finger at him. "You'd better find me."

She turned and ran to find Jubilee.