Logan helped her clean up the table in silence. He was furious with himself for being such a jerk, and he was ashamed of what he had been planning on doing. He couldn't help wondering why this beautiful and special woman was alone, living in isolation the way she was.
His mood had changed drastically, and Ari thought for sure it was because of her. She was surprised with herself, and angry. She was usually accused of not talking enough! God! What had gotten into her? Logan was dark and brooding and she wasn't sure what she should do next, if she even COULD do anything about it now. - Stupid! Stupid! -
When the dinner was cleaned up, they went back into the great room. Logan put more logs on the dying fire. Ari checked the IV and found that the bottle was nearly empty. She changed the messy papers in the cage and gave the pup a clean blanket, then she called Logan over and taught him how to take the old bottle off and hook the new one up to the IV line. "If we change the bottle up here, we don't have to mess with his catheter at all, that will keep it from possibly coming out of his vein." His mood was back to relaxed and friendly, and she was relieved "We'll have to change it every few hours, so I'm thinking I'll make up both of the couches, and we can alternate getting up with him. Does that sound okay to you? Are you comfortable changing the bottles?"
Logan nodded. "I think I got it."
" Just wake me up if you have any trouble... I'm thrilled to have the help. I usually get up all night by myself, and I'm never worth much the next day."
Ari went upstairs to get the bedding they would need. She came back down slowly, tripping on the stairs, carrying an armful so big she couldn't see around it.
"Ari, I wish you'd ask me for help, you could've fallen." Logan said.
" I'm sor oh, I guess I'm ...NOT sorry" she joked. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.
He took the mound of quilts, blankets and sheets from her arms, and his heart sank. He waited a moment for her to go up for more, then turned his back to her, lowered his face, closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Her scent exploded in his head, causing his heart to pound, and, of course, other parts of his body to react in their own way. -Logan, she's not for you, and you'd better not forget it! - He convinced himself that it wasn't hurting anything to smell her, so he took another deep whiff of her scent before he realized he was going to be smelling these blankets all nightthey were going to be all over him - Damn! This isn't gonna' to be easy. -
He was still standing there with his nose buried in her blankets when something soft landed on his head and bounced off. "What the" he said, looking up. The second pillow hit him square in the face, causing Ari to giggle uncontrollably. She dropped the rest of them on him all together. She was leaning over the railing of the loft laughing, and Logan smiled, enjoying seeing this new side of her. He dropped the blankets, and grabbed a pillow by the corner, and threw it back up at her. It landed on the floor behind her, and she bent to pick it up. As she stood back up, she was hit firmly in the chest with a second one. "Hey, How...?" she looked over the railing. Logan had climbed up onto the couch, and was whipping another pillow up at her, grinning. She squealed and leaned out over the railing to catch it. She threw it back at him, and reached down for another one, planning on hitting him again, before he could throw another one up. Her throw was wild, and he lunged, and nearly missed catching it moments before it hit the floor lamp next to the couch.
"Alright, that's enough! Stop before ya' break somethin'! " He growled, causing her to stick out her bottom lip, pretending to pout.
She was leaning out, over the edge of the railing, smiling down at him. " I haven't had that much fun for a long time... I used to do that with my father, when I was a kid...come to think of it, we usually DID end up breaking something......." she paused, staring into the distance, past him, remembering... "Thanks for playin' with me, Logan." she said in a teasing, childish voice, batting her eyes, playfully.
He looked up and winked, his eyes sparkling brightly. She was flirting with him! He shook his head, smiling. Something about her acting like a kid was an unexpected turn-on. She was certainly keeping him guessing.
She was still leaning out far over the edge of the railing. A curious look came over her face... she was remembering something. She eyed the railing and the edge of the loft, sizing it up. "You know, when I was a kid, I always wanted to try something." A wild look came into her eyes, and she smiled wickedly ...like a child about to steal a cookie from the cookie jar.
She turned away from him, abruptly, and stripped off her denim shirt revealing a tight, short-waisted T-shirt she had on underneath. Before he could figure out what she had in mind, one shapely leg appeared over the top of the railing, followed quickly by the other. -Shit! - She turned around so that she was facing the railing and Logan's body went berzerk when he saw her ass and her legs, in those tight-fitting jeans from that angle.
"What the Hell are you doin'?" He croaked.
"I always wanted to jump down from here, but my Dad would never let me." she said, spreading her legs wide and bending down to grab onto the lower bar of the railing. Logan's jaw was practically on the floor by now, but he jumped off the couch and was under her in an instant. He moved around to face her.
" How far is it?" he heard her ask, a little nervously, as two sexy legs came down over the edge, just above his head. The edge of the loft caught her shirt, exposing a nice, smooth, soft stomach, perfect navel and just a hint if a lacy bra. -Dammit ! - Logan swallowed, "About a six foot drop. or a six foot FALL." He said, roughly, reaching his arms up over his head and grabbing a-hold of her calves.
"Let go, Logan- I want to jump."
"Yeah, great idea! We're in the middle of a freakin' blizzard here, Ari. What if you break an arm or a leg... What the Hell has gotten' into you?"
"You better let go and get outa' the way, or I'm 'gonna fall on top o' you!"
"Go right ahead Darlin'."
"Damn you, Logan!" She let go and dropped down to his arms. Logan reached up and caught her ass with one hand, while the other hand slid up under her shirt and caught her back. He closed his eyes and let her slide down his body slowly, relishing the feel every curve against him. He stopped her while her feet were still several feet off the ground, and held her there. She was furious with him, and slugged at his shoulders with her fists, wiggling and kicking against him.. " Put me down! You're as bad as my Dad! ..... He would never let me do that, either!"
Logan was breathing hard, and that wasn't the only thing hard about him. with her kneesshe felt - -Oh my God!- His face was dangerously close to her breasts, and she could feel his hot breath on her exposed skin. When he looked up at her, the desire and hunger in his dark eyes caused her to freeze. She snatched her hands off of his shoulders. Her eyes grew wide, almost panicked. "Put me down Please." She whispered
breathlessly.
"I'm thinkin' maybe you need a spankin', Darlin'." He said, quietly, in a voice husky with need.
Her heartbeat became wild and erratic, and she licked her lips and swallowed. Her eyes were petrified, and her body had begun to shake uncontrollably. This was too much, way too fast for her, so Logan set her down softly on the floor. "I'm sorry." He said softly.
She pulled her shirt down quickly, and for a moment, he thought her legs were going to buckle, so he reached out to steady her. Wild-eyed, she backed away from him until she bumped into the back of the nearest couch. She stood, resting against it, thankful to have something strong to hold her up on her shaking legs.
"I was just teasin' ya', Ari. Shit! You act like you're scared to death o' me. Do you want me to leave?"
"No. I don't want you to leave." Against her will, her eyes flew down to the massive bulge in his jeans, then quickly back up to his face. "I'm I'm not ...afraid of you." She said, unconvincingly, licking her lips. " I I just have never been around men, much. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do."
"Jesus, Ari you don't have to DO anything!" he said, comfortingly. "Listen, I'm not expecting anything from you, Darlin'. " He looked down at her body and swallowed. " I think you're the sexiest thing I've ever laid eyes on, but I made a decision earlier tonight that I was 'gonna leave you alone" He looked up into her eyes; questioning. "I don't know...it kinda' seems like you're interested, . and I'm sure as Hell not 'gonna stop YOU from doin' anything YOU wanna' do.but I promise..." He held up his hand. " I won't make a move toward you unless you want me to okay?"
She nodded quickly. He could feel her already starting to calm down, he even thought he sensed a little disappointment. "Alright," she said softly. "and " she breathed in a deep, ragged breath, " you don't mind if ... if I start something if I decide to?"
His eyes twinkled with pleasure as he smiled and said, "I'm all yours, Darlin'."
All references to characters belonging to the X-Men Universe are (c) and TM the Marvel Comics Group, 20th Century Fox and all related entities. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, duplication or distribution of these materials in any form is expressly prohibited. No money is being made from this archive. All images are also (c) and TM the Marvel Comics Group, 20th Century Fox and all related entities; they are not mine. This website, its operators and any content used on this site relating to the X-Men are not authorized by Marvel, Fox, etc. I am not, nor do I claim to be affiliated with any of these entities in any way.