Author's note: This version of "She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron taken from "Hebrew Melodies: Byron's Poetical Works." 1907 edition.
It was almost eleven o'clock that evening when Ororo returned to the mansion. She had taken her leave of Forge's company almost three hours earlier, after she had grown bored with his conversation and constant, gentle hints about the *nature* of their relationship. The walk had been good for her, though...removing any lingering doubts she had harbored about where her affections rested.
Oh, Forge...
She'd loved him once...but had she really? It had been the infatuated love of a young girl. And she was a woman now...with a woman's love.
Forge no longer fit the bill.
She'd walked for those last three hours by herself, eventually finding her way to the apple orchard. There had been a soft breeze coming in from the west, and she had stood beside one of the old trees and wrapped her arm around its trunk like an old friend, watching the moon as She made her dancing path across the summer sky.
The apple blossoms were long gone now...tiny buds of fruit were growing in their place, but it didn't diminish the charm of the orchard for Ororo. Beautiful...it was here that Logan had told her she was beautiful for the first time. He was also the first person in her life to ever tell her that. Only a couple of months ago, but it seemed like a lifetime.
It was here that she also realized that she was in love with him. Hairy, rude, bad-tempered, ill-natured Wolverine...Ororo smiled to herself. Yes, all of the above and then some...and she loved him.
She loved him...and that was all that really mattered, after all.
She entered the mansion with a soft smile...some of the kids were still up. She could hear MTV on the television as she walked past the rec room, and the soft laughter of the older students as they sat watching, all tumbled together on the couch in a giggling heap. They didn't notice her as she continued past them and down the hall, mounting the stairs to the second floor quietly.
Was Logan still up? she wondered. The second floor landing was dimly lit, but she could see the dark outline of his door at the end of the hall, and no light shone from under it. She felt a little surge of disappointment, because she had been hoping to make up with him after the way she had behaved earlier...
Of course, there was no rule saying she couldn't wake him to apologize...and depending on the way she chose to apologize, she thought with a devilish grin, he might enjoy being awakened.
With a small laugh she opened her bedroom door and turned on the light. The stack of books she had dropped off earlier met her eye, still stacked haphazardly on her desk...oh, bother, she'd forgotten about the Byron poems she needed to review. Of course, that was just another excellent excuse to go see Logan. She'd wanted his help with them, anyway...with a smile she snatched up the volume of poetry on top, then turned off the light once more and shut her door behind her.
A few short steps carried her down the hall to Logan's room. There was still no light coming from under the door, but...she sniffed the air outside the door curiously. Tobacco...the smell of cigar smoke. There was always a faint aroma of cigars around his room, but it seemed stronger now. Lifting her hand, she knocked once, softly, on the oak door, her head down as she listened for a reply.
Silence. The smell of cigar smoke was still strong...he had to be in there. Ororo knocked again, hoping he hadn't fallen asleep with his cigar lit.
"Logan?" she called.
Still no answer. Ororo tried the doorknob and found it unlocked. Pushing the door open, she poked her head into the pitch-black darkness on the other side. The smoky smell was stronger now, and she stepped into the room cautiously, fumbling for the light switch beside the door.
"I don't want the light on," growled a voice.
Ororo gasped and nearly jumped out of her skin, her hand leaving the light switch in a hurry. "Logan?" she whispered nervously. "Is that you?"
"Yeah." There was a rustling sound from across the room, and Ororo saw the lit tip of his cigar flare briefly in the darkness as he inhaled.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he replied. There was another pause as the flame of the cigar brightened again. "Close the door, 'Ro," he said softly. "Unless you're plannin' on leavin'."
"I'm not leaving," she said. She closed the door gently behind her, the absence of the hallway's dim light making the darkness in the room even more complete. Logan even had the curtains drawn.
"Logan, are you sure you're all right?" she asked again, the all-encompassing darkness and his silence making her nervous.
The red pinpoint of fire from his cigar disappeared, and she thought she could hear the faint sound of him stubbing it out. He didn't answer her, and Ororo's lips set themselves in determination as she began to make her way slowly across the room in his direction, her hands stretched out in front of her blindly.
She hadn't gone more than a few steps when Logan's warm hands closed over hers, making her jump again and drop the book she was carrying.
"There you are," she murmured.
"Yeah." He was sitting down, apparently in the big leather armchair that was next to his window, and his breath was warm against her fingers as he lifted them to his lips, kissing them gently. Ororo drew a deep, shuddering breath...amazed as always how his slightest touch could make her absolutely weak.
"Let me turn the light on," she said softly.
"Why?" he asked, kissing her fingers again.
She forced a soft laugh. "So I'll know for sure that it's you."
He pulled away slightly, and she heard the familiar *snikt* of his claws as he unsheathed them. The sound made her shiver...why wouldn't he just let her turn the damn light on?
Cold metal touched her cheek ever so gently, and she stroked the back of his hand and felt where the claws extended from his skin.
"There...now you know for sure," he said, the faintest hint of amusement in his voice. She jerked her fingers away slightly as he sheathed the claws once more.
"I knew it was you, anyway," she said softly. "I'd know you anywhere, even blind."
"Blind?"
"It's dark in here," she said with a laugh. "My night vision isn't as good as yours, silly. I can't see you."
"I don't want you to see me," Logan replied. He let go of her hands and slid his arms around her body, pressing his head against her stomach.
She gently stroked his hair, her fingers brushing it away from his face. What was wrong with him? His voice sounded so broken...her fingertips drifted to his face, seeking to turn his face up to hers, but she paused, suddenly frightened.
His cheeks were wet...
"Logan, tell me what's wrong," she whispered, her voice trembling.
She felt him shake his head against her, then he stood up and pulled her into his arms, seeking out her mouth in the darkness. She closed her eyes, her head tilted back as he kissed her, the soft scent of tobacco and leather surrounding her with its heady aroma.
Logan pulled away for a moment. She felt his arm catch her under her knees and he lifted her into his arms...then he was kissing her again, his lips tender as he carried her to the bed and gently lowered her down. The blind darkness seemed to imbue them both with a reverent sort of silence...Ororo lay very quiet and still as Logan gently undressed her, his hands removing each piece of her clothing with care. Once she was naked he caressed her only once, his palms warm and smooth as he ran them down her shoulders and over her hips...then he stood up in the darkness and removed his own clothing.
There was lonely silence for a moment, then Ororo felt the bed dip slightly as Logan knelt upon it. He stretched his body over hers, the warm, hard feel of his naked flesh pressed against hers both comforting and exciting at the same time. His hands touched her face, his fingers sliding into her hair as he lowered his mouth to hers once more.
There was a different element to his kisses now...soft and sweet, warm and tender, drinking from her lips as if they were a delectable wine, and she closed her eyes against the darkness and let him drink his fill.
"Logan?" she murmured.
"Shhh, darlin'..."
He gently brushed her lips with his teeth, and Ororo shifted her body and spread her legs slightly, Logan's body molding against hers. The head of his erect penis nudged gently between her thighs, slipping inside her nether lips just enough to tease her clitoris with its touch. She sighed with pleasure, rubbing against him, and he responded with a low, gentle rumble in his chest.
With incredible gentleness, he entered her slowly, savoring the soft gasps of her breath as he did so. Her fingers drifted up and over his back, the softest of touches against his shoulders, and he began to move against her, stealing another kiss, her mouth as delicate as petals...her breasts were soft and full, pressing against the rough hair on his chest, and when he gently stroked their hard peaks with his thumbs she moaned softly against his lips.
"Oh, Logan..." she murmured. He closed his eyes tightly, thrilling at her soft whisper of his name, and he pushed inside her as deeply as he could, making love to her with a slow urgency that made her clutch him tighter and cry out softly against his shoulder. The surrounding darkness made it another world, and Ororo lost herself in it...the gentle creak of the mattress beneath them, the soft, panting mingle of her breath with Logan's, and the multi-colored pleasure he was teasing her with, silently and with excruciating slowness bringing her to the edge...
He kissed her again...a whisper from his lips, harsh and ragged and ultimately beautiful...
"Love you, Ororo..."
So tender...Ororo was glad for the concealing darkness, for she felt tears spring into her eyes at his soft words. She held him tighter, burying her face against his neck.
"I love you too..."
After that, there was no more need to speak...warm touch of his breath against her cheek, the firm taste of his lips against hers...she sighed again, losing herself in the softness of the shadows, the hard press of his body, and the gentle stroke of his hands as he brought her higher and higher, the two of them shuddering breathlessly against each other's skin, safe in a cave of darkness, surrounded only by the sound and scent and feel of love without words.
* * * * *
It was much later when Logan opened his eyes, Ororo sound asleep and warm in the protective circle of his arms. Their lovemaking had been good, far better than he had ever thought it could be, and that both pleased and confused him at the same time.
He glanced down at her and realized she was right...his night vision *was* better than hers. It was still pitch-black in his room, but his eyes had adjusted well enough to see the soft shimmer of her white hair against his pillow, as well as the light cast of his own skin against hers. Maybe she felt his gaze..she stirred a little and sighed, and he smiled gently and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek before slipping out of the bed in silence.
He padded across the room, the air cool on his naked flesh, and carefully pulled the heavy drapes away from the window. The moon was riding low in the sky, close to setting, but its brilliant white light was enough to illuminate the room somewhat without awakening Ororo from her sleep. He glanced over at her again...she had rolled over on her side, facing away from him, and he let his eyes trace the trim shape of her back, brown silk against the white of his sheets. Her hair lay in thick waves down and across the pillows, exposing one delicate shoulder...
Logan tore his eyes away from her with some effort and retrieved his discarded jeans from the floor, yanking them on and zipping them up before seating himself heavily in the leather armchair before the window.
Thinking, thinking...he'd done entirely too much thinking today, and it was wearing on him. For a man used to operating on instincts alone, all this thinking was starting to get to him, and he still hadn't come to any kind of satisfactory answer. It was obvious she wasn't mad at him anymore...at least, he thought it was obvious...but, now what?
He shifted a little in the seat, and his bare foot brushed against something hard on the floor. Logan cocked an eyebrow and looked down at it...it was a book. Oh, yeah...the one Ororo had dropped when he'd grabbed her hands. Curious, he bent over and picked it up, leaning back into the moonlight to see the title stamped on its leather cover.
"The Collected Poems of Lord Byron"...he studied it for a moment, recalling the afternoon he had reviewed this with 'Ro, then he opened it and began leafing through the pages idly. Damn...fella sure wrote a lot of shit. Some of it...hell, most of it...was God-awful, but every once in awhile there would be a gem that would stick out...like this one. Logan grinned a little and stopped on one page, the moonlight picking up three stanzas of one of the few poems he remembered.
"She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies."
Logan glanced up at Ororo, a soft smile touching his face. He wasn't sure who the old bastard wrote this poem for, but it certainly fit 'Ro perfectly. Beauty like the night...he lowered his head to the book once more, the soft meter of the poetry as soothing as her touch.
"One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place."
He chuckled softly. Raven tress? Okay, so that was way off...oh, well...
"And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!"
Damn.
Those last words struck a chord in Logan, and he closed the book thoughtfully, watching Ororo in sleep once more. That's really what it all came down to, wasn't it? The love of an innocent heart...Ororo's heart. God, she was a beautiful woman, as ripe and lovely as any man could wish for...yet in so many ways she was still a child, a little girl still waiting for a knight in shining armor to come and rescue her.
And what did that mean for him? Chivalry wasn't in his nature, and it never would be, but how could he tell Ororo that? She sighed softly in her sleep, touching Logan's heart with tender fingers, and he frowned.
Marriage...commitment...he snorted, thinking about what Rogue had said. Marry Ororo? Hell, no...of course he loved her, but he'd been telling 'Ro the truth when he said he wasn't a marrying kind of guy. And why in the hell would any woman in her right mind want to be tied to him in the first place? He wasn't exactly the catch of the day...some husband he'd turn out to be.
Ororo stirred again, and this time her eyes fluttered open slightly. "Logan?" she murmured.
"Right here, darlin'." He got up quietly and moved back to the bed, slipping under the covers and pulling her into his arms. She relaxed almost immediately, and he kissed the top of her head as her breathing softened into slumber once more.
"A heart whose love is innocent..."
He shouldn't have read that poem...it was going to haunt him now. Logan rested his head against the pillows and watched her sleep, tenderly brushing her white hair with gentle fingers. God, how he loved her...but marriage...aw, hell...
Of course, Rogue had said that it really had nothing to do with marriage or proposing or any of that shit. It was a promise Ororo was looking for...a promise that he would be hers and she would be his. Hell, he could understand that...his own animal instinct already made him think of Ororo as his possession...he hated every moment she spent in the company of that damned Forge, but what right did he have to say anything? He'd made no claim on her...no promise, as Rogue would say...so he had no rights at all.
Logan closed his eyes, savoring the feel of her in his arms, the sweet smell of her hair, remembering how she had pulled him close and kissed him with all the tenderness he had always wanted and never been able to find. All he had ever wanted...to know she would always be there. That no matter what, she would always be there.
She forgiven him...she loved him, but that hadn't stopped him from hurting her. She'd given him the most precious thing she had to give, and now she was asking for only one thing in return, asking in the only way she knew how.
A promise...
He opened his eyes and looked down at her, beautiful and soft and inviting, and he knew all at once that all his thinking had been pointless. He already knew what he wanted...and she was lying in his arms, his for the asking.
His for the asking...
A promise...
Suddenly, a promise didn't seem like such a hard thing to give.
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.