CHAPTER 15 - The Power of Persuasion
“Let’s get back to Moira’s presentation, shall we?” Hank looked a little awkward as he stammered through the question.
Marie sighed and tried to concentrate past the embarrassment of Logan trying to kill her through mortification. She gave Logan her best death glare, which he promptly grinned at, and turned back to Moira. “I agree.”
Moira smiled past her obvious confusion and began again. “Yes. Now. Let’s move on to Class Fours and Fives.” Marie tried not to notice how Logan’s attention was caught with that simple statement. “While they are technically two separate Classes, in a handful of cases, the line is blurred between a high Class Four and a low Class Five.”
Marie felt uneasy at the doctor’s words. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” Moira answered. “That in some cases, we don’t see a very definite difference between the two genetically. With Classes One, Two, and Three, we see very clear differences; but not so much with the top two Classes. The closer one is to a level Five, the less differences we see.”
She clicked on a slide with two pictures of a gene on display. “Bobby and Rogue have been kind enough to let us use their own blood samples for this. It gives us a clearer visual on how close they can be. On the left, is Bobby’s X-gene. On the right, Rogue’s.”
She felt herself sinking down into her chair. Why had she agreed to this?
“You’ll notice the similarities between the two. But...” She switched to the next slide where three X-genes were on display. “...Notice the similarities between Rogue’s, in the middle, and the individual’s on the far right.” She pointed with her laser pen. “They are actually much closer in appearance....” She said, pointing to the left. “...than that of Rogue’s and Bobby’s.”
“The one on the right is...?” Jube’s began.
“A Class Five,” Moira stated matter-of-fact.
Silence fell over the room. Rogue stared at the screen in abject horror. They looked exactly the same.
“Are you saying...” Storm said quietly. “...that Rogue is that close to a Class Five?”
“Even closer than I originally thought.” Moira clicked on the next screen. “You may recognize this.” A photo of various blots in straight lines came up. “It’s a digitized autoradiogram. In many cases, they are used to match blood types.” She smiled. “This is where it gets super-interesting. This one here is Rogue’s. And this one...” click “...is of that same Class Five.” The slide carried animation and the two images fell one over the other...forming one almost exact match. “There is almost no discernible difference!” She looked like she might jump for joy. “Isn’t that so interesting?”
Marie felt the blood drain from her face. She felt lightheaded and nauseated. This was just too much. She looked to Logan for his reaction. He was staring at the picture with an intensity she wasn’t used to. What was he thinking? The room was utterly silent.
She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t... She felt her knees jerk and she found herself standing and pushing her chair aside.
She was out the conference room door before she had time to think what those shocked looks across everyone’s faces meant. She slammed the door behind her and reached out to steady herself against the opposite wall in the hallway. She felt the world turning upside down and couldn’t get a full breath of air.
She heard the door open and Logan came rushing out, closing the door behind him when he noticed her still there. She didn’t give him time to speak.
“Did you see that?” she asked desperately. “There was, like, no difference. None.” Her arm flailed towards the door. “What the hell does that mean, Logan?” She felt like the world was coming down on her.
He looked worried and that scared her more than she thought possible. “I dunno,” She shook her head at the craziness of it all.
“Am I, what, that close to being insane? Like Phoenix?”
No, he said fiercely. He walked to her and took her face in his hands. “You’re not crazy, Marie.”
She couldn’t handle the idea that this...mutation...would just up and take over, making her say things, do things, want things it shouldn’t have. “My fingers...they itch when I want a mutation. I get all breathless and excited and I really really want mutations. I’ve said it before. it’s like an addiction. I just have to have it!” Could it be a madness taking over?
“You’re not a Class Five.” He looked so convinced, it was painful. “Hank...Moira...those fuckers that gave you the ‘cure’. They’ve all said the same thing. You are a Four.”
“But I can’t control it,” she said hysterically. “I still can’t do two things at once with it.”
He shook his head. “You have controlled it. You’re controlling it right now. Yeah. It’s difficult for you, but you do control it.”
“What if I can’t even control it again?” Was she starting to sound crazy? Was it the first step in going crazy?
“The voices...” she went on. “When I take too much. That could be a sign...”
“Stop!” He looked angry. “You are not crazy. You have never been crazy. You are not going to lose control and you are not going to let this beat you down. You got me?”
“I can’t even let you touch me, Logan. “We...” she said, motioning between them “...can’t even have sex! All I want is to make love with you and I can’t even do that!”
He stared at her, hard. She started thinking he was considering the fact that she might actually be crazy when he took her hand and hauled her down the hallway. She was so stunned and confused that she let him pull her all the way upstairs and to her room.
“Logan, what...” She stopped dead in her tracks when he pulled his flannel over his head. “Umm...”
She couldn’t get herself to speak. His arms, so beautifully sculpted, had that effect on her. When he pulled the white undershirt off and threw it to the floor, she lost most of her ability for coherent thought too.
“Why are you stripping?” Not that she minded.
He sat on the edge of her bed and pulled at his boot. He looked up at her and in his most matter-of-fact voice declared, “Because I’ve had just about enough of you lettin’ this fear of your skin get in the way of me being inside of you.”
She about swallowed her tongue. “Ah beg your pardon?”
He smiled a little too suggestively for her taste. “You said you wanted to have sex, didn’t you?
“Well, yeah. But...” She was gonna let his sheer audacity go for now. “My skin... this isn’t a game, Logan. I really can’t control it for that long or for those...activities.”
He finished pulling off his second boot and stood. “Bullshit.”
She couldn't help her mouth dropping open. “You controlled it in the accident. You didn’t have a choice then, yeah, but you still controlled it...you turned it off and it stayed off. While you were unconcious and fuckin’ dyin’. There was no effort then. Once you passed out from blood loss, your mutation didn’t go back to fuckin’ default mode. Which means ‘on’ isn’t natural for you.”
She stood there, staring in shock. “So, what? You think I do this on purpose?” She might just need to kick his ass. Right now.
“No.” That was too simple of an answer. “But I think after that first time, with Cody, you became so afraid of hurting people, that you never managed to learn the difference between on and off.”
Ass Kicking. Now. “Are you saying I’m a coward?”
His lips pushed together and he almost smiled. “Pretty much.”
The overwhelming anger tinged her cheeks a hot red. “And you think that I’m going to touch you now?” She’d touch him all right. Touch the heel of her boot straight into his forehead.
“No.” His short answers started to grate on her nerves. “I’m going to touch you.”
She stepped back in panic. “Don’t.”
“See, the way I figure it -- given enough incentive, enough risk, you’ll figure out how to keep it off.” He looked smug. “I’ve been sittin’ here for weeks tryin’ to figure out how to make you cum for me without having half your thoughts on that damn mutation.”
She felt her flush deepen. Damn it. She wasn’t supposed to react like this at every single insinuation that tumbled out of his talented mouth.
“I can smell how much you want me. I could smell it in that conference room.” He smiled wickedly. “You were so wet for me even Hank got a good whiff.”
Aw, damn!
“So this is how it’s gonna work, Marie.” He walked right up to her, closing her in against the wall, both hands on either side of her head. She was trying not to shake in arousal. Damn it, the whole animalistic dominance thing worked for him too much.
“I’m gonna take you. Right here, right now...and you’re going to turn off that mutation if you don’t want to hurt me.”
She scowled. “And what if I say no?”
He shrugged. “Then it’s no. And we keep waitin’. And waitin’...and waitin’. Longer you wait, the harder it’s gonna get.” he wagged his brows at the double entendre. “You make the choice.”
Well, this wasn’t fair. The way his voice lowered into an almost growl and he leaned into her until he was half an inch away was just not playing fair. And then he had the absolute gall to reach down and unhook his belt. Her eyes followed the movement of his hands and she felt a fresh burst of searing heat shoot up her back.
He took a deep breath in through his nose and smiled hotly. “That’s what I thought.”
Bastard. She’d get him back for this too. Later.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
It's gettin' hot in here....
You may hate me at the end of this chapter...but...oh, well. bwahahaaaaa
You may hate me at the end of this chapter...but...oh, well. bwahahaaaaa
Chapter End Notes:
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