Pacing back and forth in the kitchen fifteen minutes later did nothing to calm her down; instead, she was starting to become furious. What right did that man have questioning her about her sex life and assuming things? Her eyes darted out the back window to where she had seen Logan disappear into the forest over five minutes before, his footsteps harsh and long.
She glanced at the fridge where a quick note was scribbled in Nathan’s hand writing telling her he and Scott had gone into town to pick up things for dinner tonight. She was pissed off. She was pissed that Scott and Nathan were gone leaving her with that Neanderthal of a man. If she found out Scott had done it on purpose she was going to have words with him. She was angry with Logan. Quickly, her foot shot out, kicked at one of the kitchen table’s legs, and she growled as she twirled back around.
What are you really angry about? A voice teased in her head. Angry that he let you walk away instead of pushing you up against the wall, his large hands curling around your form as he showed you what you were missing, what you needed. You want him, the voice whispered. You could have him. He wants you.
No, she shook her head and steeled her eyes as she glanced back towards the forest. He had no right. He needed to know he couldn’t just walk around treating her that way.
The back door slammed behind her as she raced to the spot she had seen Logan go through, her footsteps, just as harsh as his had been. After three minutes of hurried footsteps she could already tell he had gone much further into the forest then she had been so far.
The sound of the wind rustling through the trees accompanied by the mixture of birds and other animals whirled around her but his scent was still strong, in fact, it was powerful. The rage was so palpable even on the wind and she took a step back leaning against a tree as she breathed deeply. Her hands grasped the bark behind her and when she felt smooth wood, she turned around.
There was a set of claw marks gashed deeply in the trunk of the tree, three long grooves. They didn’t look like they had been done by any animal she knew of. Her eyes glanced around the forest and she noticed the claws appeared on further tree trunks up ahead, splinters of wood lining the ground. Her knuckles buzzed. Tentatively, her hand reached out and her fingers settled in the groove of the marks. Her heartbeat started to pick up as she grazed the mark and she knew she’d seen it before.
Her knees suddenly buckled as she leaned against the tree, a memory burning through her mind.
It was cold and everything around her was white and grey. The sound of a trunk engine was running somewhere near her and slowly warmth was starting to pour back into her tired and frozen bones. Chocolate brown eyes looked back at her as she gazed out the window covered in bits of ice. She could see her reflection in the side mirror. She looked thin and tired and more importantly she looked young; the white streak in her hair nowhere to be seen.
Beside her, a rugged man was driving and it took her a second to realize it was Logan. His eyes directed out on the icy road with a cigar clenched in his teeth. His hands clasped the steering wheel.
She was curious.
“Does it …hurt when they come out?” she asked.
Logan turned and stared at her with his eyebrow shifting up only a little as he took the cigar out of his mouth and smoke traveled past his lips.
“Every time,” he muttered, his gaze going back to the road but his eyes glanced back at her once more with a look in them she couldn’t decipher. His shoulders relaxed against his seat.
The memory gripped her mind so harshly she found herself blinking back tears as her knees started to fail her. Two strong hands came out of nowhere and stopped her from falling towards the ground. She stared silently with her eyes wide into Logan’s distraught face.
His features twisted in a fierce snarl that was fading with each second that her body appeared to be fighting her. A brief flash of concern flashing across his eyes before being pushed back letting her see his usual mask of indifference, but his strong grip that was still supporting her let her know he wouldn’t let her fall.
His eyes searched hers but all she could do was gasp as her body started to calm back down. She never thought for a second to pull away from him. She fell to her knees and he went with her, still supporting her.
His hands were in her hair as he gently but firmly gripped the sides of her face.
“Ma…,” he paused as he clenched his teeth and took a deep breath. “Are you alright?”
She was in shock. Her eyes only remaining on his face as she noted there was hardly any difference from how he looked in the memory to how he looked in front of her and she could tell the memory was old.
He’d stumbled over his words and she knew somehow that he had wanted to call her Marie, the small whisper that had been on his lips when he had stumbled into the Summer’s living room just days ago. She finally understood who Marie was.
She cried out as her memory flashed again to the same winter landscape but she felt no cold only warmth inside Logan’s truck.
“What kind of name is Wolverine?”
“I don’t know, what kind of a name is Rogue?”
She gave him a small sincere smile. “Marie.”
He glanced at her again with the same look she was finding to be complicated as though he was thinking so many things and they were all flashing across his eyes at too fast a speed for them to settle on one.
“Logan.”
This time they both stared at each other with things unsaid.
She came to with Logan shaking her shoulders, he looked frantic.
“Are you….?
Her whisper broke across his words, “Wolverine.”
The forest appeared to go still at the exact same time he did, his body froze as he stared at her with wide eyes, his mouth gaping open.
“I know you,” she gasped. “How do I know you?”
She leaned against him and he didn’t object but now he looked like the one in shock. Three of her fingers rubbed the spot over his knuckles gently, knowing that the claws that made the marks on the trees lay just beneath the surface.
“Marie,” he gasped, his eyes glistening as he looked at her in question.
She nodded slowly.
He gave a sudden laugh, which sounded caught between a sob as well.
“You remember,” he laughed joyously.
He leaned in so suddenly that his lips were on hers before she had time to react. The kiss was deep and intense as he dominated her mouth more then explored it. She found herself responding and shuddered against his hard body. She felt on fire just from him kissing her, she could tell that his kiss was only a small temptation to what he could really do to her and she wanted it. She felt the need that had been boiling over in her start to burst free as he worked her mouth.
His hand moved down from her hair across her neck and started to caress her breast. She broke the kiss as she moaned breathlessly. He growled and moved back in but she pushed him back. He growled again and she found herself struggling to hold him back with her hands.
“No,” she whispered. He stilled over her right away but he didn’t move back, he only stared at her, his eyes alive with passion and something else she never expected to see in another’s eyes when looking at her, love. But right now as she noticed the golden hue to his eyes, he appeared more animal then man. She could see the restraint he was barely holding on to as he stopped his advances. She saw so many promises in his eyes, of the things he wished to do to her and she knew immediately she wanted him to.
Unfortunately, her conscience had chosen to rise and she knew that some how it wasn’t right, it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair to Nathan and it wasn’t fair to both her and Logan because whatever she had seen in her memory nothing about it explained in large detail why she was suddenly seconds away from having sex with him. She knew that they hadn’t been lovers in the memory.
“Marie?” he pleaded and she gazed back at him in deep sorrow.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “But I don’t remember. I don’t remember this.” Tears flowed down her face as she desperately tried to concentrate on the memories, tried to call them back.
He leaned back slightly with pain filling his eyes. “But…?” he spoke sounding lost.
“Yes, I remember you but I don’t know why or…or…any of this.”
The rush she had felt moments ago was fading and her head started to pound again. Her eyes scrunched up and she hissed in pain. She felt Logan cradle her head gently.
“What do you remember?” he asked quietly.
She gazed up at him. “It seems so long ago…” she drifted off.
He nodded. “I was cold and…and hungry and suddenly I wasn’t anymore and I was warm and I was moving and…and…”
“Go on.”
“You were there and you were driving…a truck and I was sitting beside you and…” she paused for a moment in thought.
“Before you had these, right?” he indicated her white bangs.
She nodded quietly, holding back the question as to why she had them, her mind felt fuzzy with the sudden memory, the rush from Logan and now the pain.
“It’s when we first met.”
She nodded again her eyes a bit unfocused as she realized it had felt like an introduction of sorts but still it felt like pieces were missing, important pieces.
“So you and Scott are right, I do truly know you?”
He nodded. “Do you remember Scott?”
“No,” she answered solemnly.
He sighed and suddenly stood up and away from her.
“Logan?”
He took a step away from her and then another.
“Logan, where are you going?”
He had his back to her. “I’m sorry, but I can’t…you don’t remember it all yet and…I just can’t be around you right now because….I don’t want to do something I’ll,” he paused as he laughed hollowly. “Oh who I’m I kidding I wouldn’t regret it but I know it wouldn’t be fair to you and I don’t want to be the reason for any of your pain. I won’t be far though but…you need to go inside and lie down, keep your body strong for when the rest of your memories return.”
“You think they will?” she asked quietly.
“Yes,” he almost hissed. “But you were right you know, wanting to move on, wanting to forget because…because I can’t promise you…I can’t protect you from the reality you are going to find out.”
“You’re scaring me.”
She noticed he clenched both of his fists hard. “I know and for that I am truly sorry.”
He disappeared within the depths of the forest and she no longer felt empty but she didn’t feel full, she felt like she was just a bunch of different puzzle pieces and Logan had just scattered them across the forest floor.