Title: What You Wish For
Author: Terri
E-Mail:  xgrrl26@yahoo.com
Rating: NC-17
Archive: Dolphin Haven, Peep Hut – anyone else, please ask :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the mutants herein, or the goddess – she's a Celtic figure, sometimes also associated with a healing well, and, frankly, I try to stay on the good side of the powers that be whenever possible ;)
Feedback: Please! With some Halloween candy on top? Good, bad, and ugly welcome………
Summary: Logan has to decide how to use the opportunity of a lifetime, which he gets thanks to Jubes' Buffy fixation.
Comments: I love holiday fic, and those bunnies usually tend to bite me pretty hard. This started out as purely a Halloween smut bunny, but somehow, a little plot snuck in. If any of you would like to write more in this universe (I have some ideas about who else at the mansion might like a wish but no time to write those bunnies!), just let me know ;)

Marie caught sight of him in the mirror, and turned to face him as he lingered in the open doorway. "Hey." There was something touching about the way she still smiled when she saw him, despite that small glimmer of hurt. "Are you going to the party?"

"Nah," he demurred. "I hate fuckin' Halloween. Never been one for tricks." She quirked a grin at him, then turned back to the mirror to put her earrings on. She was dressed as a fairy or something – she had on a pale pink opaque body stocking that did all kinds of good things for her complexion, her hair was infused with silvery glitter, and she was wearing some kind of frilly, foofy skirt. On her dresser, there was a sparkly wand with streamers attached and a silk bag – accessories for the costume, Logan knew. "You look good, though."

"Thanks," she smiled as she finished up.

"What're you supposedta be?" He asked less out of curiosity than a desire for a safe, neutral conversational topic.

"I'm a fairy godmother – you know, the kind that grants wishes in fairy tales and stuff." Something about seeing the gloves on her hands combined with her words saddened Logan deeply – it highlighted that her own most fervent wish, her wish to control her skin, had gone unanswered. "I bet I know what your wish would be," she teased. That was relatively new – she'd only teased him a time or two in recent memory. Before Jean, she'd done it a lot, and Logan missed it.

"What's that, darlin'?" He'd been pretty explicit and direct with Marie about how much he wanted her; she'd graciously and gently turned him away every time. So joking about wanting her for his wish would've only made them both sad, and Logan steered clear of it to keep the light banter going.

"I bet you wish for the loud, noisy, smelly party to be over quickly."

That brought a smirk to his lips. She really did know him pretty damn well. "Got it in one."

"Are you going out?" she asked as she gathered her things.

"Nah – most bars, even the good ones, have parties and shit. I'm just gonna hang out in my room."

"I hope we won't bother you too much," she said as she approached him, ready to leave for the festivities. Logan didn't move, not quite yet.

"You never bother me, darlin'," he said sincerely, then stepped back to let her pass. "See ya around later, huh?"

"Sure," she answered, with a note of regret and heaviness that Logan cursed himself for putting there. "Have a good night."

Long after she had left, he whispered. "Not without you, it won't be. None of 'em are."

Logan sat in his room, watching ESPN Classic, hoping for hockey but settling for a replay of a Steelers-Cowboys Super Bowl game. He didn't especially care for one team or the other, but he did kind of identify with the fearsome, front-toothless Jack Lambert, and his legendary fantasy of tackling someone so hard that their head actually popped off. If Logan occasionally cast himself in the role of headless target instead of savage tackler, that was nobody's business.

A loud knock at his door interrupted his thoughts. Sighing, and ignoring it, he vowed silently to find out who it was tomorrow and chew their ass out. Dealing with some drunken kid now wasn't what he needed. The knock repeated itself, though, and this time, his door was flung open as well. The hallway light nicely backlit a predictably drunken Jubilee, decked out in tight leather pants, a strappy tank top and holding a big piece of wood. Jubes was the one kid at the mansion (and he still thought of her as a kid even though she was a year older than Marie) that he didn't consistently want to claw. He grunted at her and said, "In or out, huh?"

Jubes staggered in, and slammed the door behind herself. "You're not in costume."

"Sure I am. I'm a couch potato." He took a slug of the beer and jerked his head in your direction. "What the hell're you supposedta be?"

Jubes took a fighting stance, and raised her chunk of wood with a wobbly hand. "I'm Buffy the Vampire Slayer!"

"Who?"

"Buffy! Buf. Fy." Jubes insisted. When he still didn't get it, she shook her head and lowered the steak. "You know – Buffy. Fighter of evil. Undoer of – of bad things. That's me!"

"Hmph." Logan took another swig of the beer and turned his attention back to the TV. Jubes would either stay or not; he didn't really mind either way.

"Listen, uh – you, you – uh, you." Yep, Logan thought, definitely over her limit and it's only eight o'clock. "I have come here tonight to fight the forces of evil," she declared a little more steadily, not that it made any more sense to Logan. "I am here to, uh – oh, shit, why am I here? Dammit, I knew what it was when I came up the stairs and then I stopped to talk to Bobby and I – oh! Oh! I got it! I got it!"

When she fell into a silent grin, one that held entirely too much mischief for Logan's comfort, he prompted. "You got what?"

"I am here to undo the badness between you and Rogue," she announced in a hushed, serious voice. Logan's face turned hard in an instant.

"That ain't shit to joke about. Get the hell out, kid."

"Hey - don't get all pissed! I know how you can get her back." Logan snorted in disbelief and finished the beer. "I totally do!" she protested.

"All right, what?"

"All you have to do," Jubes confided, "is recite a little backwards spell, you know the kind that you use to go back in time and fix your mistakes."

"That ain't real. Magic – that don't really exist." Logan eased a bit – she had to be drunker than he thought if she was spouting this kind of crap. Either that, or she'd seen one too many movies.

"Nuh-uh. It so totally does." Jubes bounced onto the bed beside him, and said in a confiding tone, "I got interested when I started seeing them do spells and stuff on Buffy. Turns out that there really is such a thing as a magic spell, and I've totally got one that will help you fix things with Rogue." She began emptying her pockets, pulling out trinkets and smelly herbs that Logan couldn't quite identify. Jubes began arranging them in a circle. "I tried it, gave it a test run, you know. I wouldn't just let you give it a go if I wasn't sure it would work. I went back in time and totally changed the kitchen schedule so that my turn at dishes was already done – ha!"

Logan knit his eyebrows together. "But your turn at dishes *was* already done – you were first up this week."

"Exactly!" Jubes exclaimed excitedly. "Now – the only thing you have to do is stay really still while I chant. It's all me, baby!"

Logan sighed, and resigned himself to playing along. What could it hurt, anyway? He turned his eyes to the game while Jubes chanted in the background, occasionally burping her way through the incantation.

"STATE YOUR BUSINESS," a loud voice boomed into Logan's ears. He was suddenly somewhere dark – dark, as in completely dark. Even his enhanced senses couldn't pick up the smallest trace of light. He couldn't smell anything either. Just what the hell had Jubes done? "STATE YOUR BUSINESS!"

"Uh, I dunno." It sounded stupid even to his own ears, but it was a truthful answer. "Where am I?"

"YOU STAND BEFORE THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS. I AM THE GODDESS CAOLAINN. WHAT IS YOUR WISH?"

"What the hell're you talkin' about?" Suddenly, a warm flush of light permeated the room and, after blinking a time or two to clear his vision, a tall, red-haired woman in flowing white robes stood before him. "Great," he grumbled upon sighting her, "another fuckin' red-head. Just what I need."

"I am Caolainn," the woman announced, with mirth and anticipatory glee in her eyes. "I grant wishes. You have been transported here because you seek my favor, yes?"

"Uh, no," Logan said, backing away from her advancing form. "Jubes musta fucked somethin' up."

"Destiny makes no mistakes," the goddess purred. "What is your wish?"

"Gettin' the hell outta here is pretty much tops on my list," Logan replied, still backing up.

"I think you should reconsider." Logan grunted as his retreating back suddenly found something solid. When he chanced taking his eyes off of the putative goddess, he turned to find he'd been backed into a well, the old fashioned kind, complete with a bucket on a string. "Look into the well, and see your true heart's desire." He still didn't trust the unholy gleam in the redhead's eye, but Logan did as the woman suggested.

He wasn't surprised to find Marie's image staring back up at him from the waters below. "Yeah? So what? I wish for her and she's mine, is that what you're sayin'?"

"Exactly," Caolainn replied, practically bouncing on her toes. Everything about her was screaming 'set-up' to Logan, but he was intrigued nonetheless. Maybe this was all just some vivid hallucination, but if there was even the smallest chance of getting Marie back…. "Well, is that your wish then? Is it? Is it?"

Logan harrumphed and thought it over for a second. He looked back down in the waters at Marie's shimmering face. Her image looked happy – content, even. Logan liked that look on her. Her big brown eyes flitted downward suddenly, and she reached up to brush a strand of her white-streaked hair out of her face. It was then that it hit Logan, who was still pretty much grinning like an idiot at the sight of an unguardedly happy Marie. His heart's desire was her, of course, but the reverse was not true. Marie's heart held a different desire.

"Goddesses do not have all day, you know," Caolainn chided mischievously. Logan slowly straightened himself from the well and turned to face her. "She's lovely, isn't she? I can feel how much you want her – it really is written all over you." Logan smirked at that, but still didn't respond. "Well, out with it. Make your wish."

Logan met her eyes unflinchingly. "I wish for Marie to be able to control her skin." He couldn't quite bring himself to wish the mutation away from her completely – it was a formidable one, and one she might one day need in her own defense. It was also one that he could use to transfer his healing powers to her, should something ever happen. No, he couldn't wish it gone completely, but he could wish for her to have power over it, instead of it having power over her.

Caolainn, for her part, looked absolutely stunned for a moment or two, then royally pissed off. "You mortals. You are simply no fun any more."

Logan was unaffected by her ire. "So do I get my wish or what?"

Caolainn didn't answer, at least not in words – with a wave of her hand, everything turned to blackness again.

"Eeeeeee!" Jubilee's screech made for a very unpleasant awakening for anyone, but especially so for Logan. "It worked! It worked! Dude, you totally disappeared for like, a half hour! Wheeee!"

"Damn," Logan muttered, sitting up. It felt like he'd been put through the wringer. Literally.

"Did you fix it? Wolvie, you totally fixed it, right? I can go downstairs and drag mi chica Rogue up to your love lair and everything will be – "

"No."

" – totally kickin' and you two can – um, did you say 'no'?"

"Yeah."

"What?"

"Yeah, I said no," Logan clarified with more grumpiness than was strictly necessary. "You didn't send me back in time, kid. The spell went haywire."

"Aw, crap!" Jubes cursed. "Wait – if you didn't go back in time, where did you go?"

"Landed in fronta some kinda goddess or somethin'," he grumbled. "I know it sounds crazy."

Jubes' eyes narrowed, and Logan thought he really must've been gone a while – she'd had time to sober up. Maybe it wasn't some hallucination after all. "Did she tell you what kind of goddess she was?"

"Said she granted wishes. She had red hair and these big robes and shit. Made me look inta some well to see what I really wanted to wish for." Seeing Jubes' open-mouthed stare, he added with a frown, "Or maybe I just hit my head on somethin' real hard."

"No, no! That was – I think it was Caolainn!"

"Yeah, that's what she said her name was." Jubes gasped, then giggled at Logan's nonchalance. "What?"

"Dude, you totally played it cool with her, didn't you? You were all like – hey, I'm the Wolverine, I'm cool."

"Um………"

"Oooh! And it totally is fixed anyway! 'Cause you wished to have Roguey back, right?"

"Well…….."

"Dude," Jubes intoned, leaning forward wearing the most serious look Logan had ever seen on her, "you did wish for Rogue back, right? You didn't do something stupid and wish for a really cool bike or some cigars, did ya?"

"No, no bike. No cigars."

"Oh man," Jubes groaned, shaking her head, "you wished for Dr. Grey back, didn't you? You just couldn't get enough of boning her!"

"I did not!" Logan protested indignantly. "She wasn't that great anyhow!" As soon as he saw Jubes clap her hand over her mouth and look at him with wide, but somehow still devious eyes, he knew that would be all over the school by tomorrow. "Jubes, I didn't wish for Jeannie back, OK? I just – I wished to give Rogue somethin' I know she wanted."

"Wolvster – what Rogue wants is a pretty short list. In fact, there's one item only – you."

"Nah," Logan corrected, "there's somethin' else she wants a helluva lot more than me."

"No way!" Jubes protested. "If we're talking about a pre-Dr. Grey you, there's nothing else on the list!"

"Nah," he repeated, not wanting to divulge exactly what it was if Jubes couldn't guess – after all, it would be Marie's news to share with whom she saw fit and in her own time. "Listen, I'm gonna stick my head in downstairs. Thanks, kid," he said sincerely as he paused in the doorway. "I owe ya a big one."

Jubes flopped back on the bed and sighed after he closed the door behind himself. "Stupid lizard eye," she complained to one of the gooier-looking trinkets still laid out on the bed, "I knew I should've gotten a rat's eye, like the spell said. Stupid icky rats."

"Hey," Logan hailed from across the hall. Marie looked surprised to see him, but she crossed through the crowd to meet him nonetheless.

"Hey. Is something wrong?" She was holding her wand in one hand and a drink in the other; her silk bag was looped over her arm and was hanging from her elbow joint. Perfect, Logan thought.

"Do me a favor, huh? Close your eyes a second." She shot him a confused look, but then she did as he'd asked. He took a deep breath – he was either about to piss her off some more, something he could ill-afford, or make her the happiest mutant on the face of the earth. Letting his breath out, he did it. He trailed one bare finger across her bare cheek.

"Oh!" She jumped back immediately, and, even though he hadn't felt the pull, he thought for a moment that it hadn't worked, that the wish hadn't been granted. But then her eyes widened even more and her mouth fell open and the betrayal and anger in her eyes melted into awe. "Oh," she whispered.

"Had a feelin'," Logan mumbled, his eyes never leaving hers. "You, ah, smelled different," he fibbed, not wanting to go into the whole story – after all, Marie would think he was crazy if he started going on about goddesses and wishing wells and a drunken, spell-casting Jubes. "Congratulations, darlin'." He turned to go, wanting to leave her to her joy in the moment, but he soon felt her small form embracing him from behind and halting his progress.

"Logan – I – I – thank you."

"No need to thank me," he choked out. "You did it – it was all you, baby." He couldn't stop himself from bringing one of the gloved hands restraining him to his lips for a soft kiss. She let him, and that was enough. "Enjoy it, darlin' – you deserve it." He walked away before he did anything like take her into his arms for a searing kiss or start – God forbid – actually tearing up. This was her moment, and she'd wanted it for a long time. He gently undid her arms and headed back upstairs.

He was well into his twentieth beer, and his second Super Bowl game – the 49ers and somebody else; who the hell really gave a shit now? – when he was once again interrupted by a knock on his door.

"Jubes, I've seen enough of ya for one night, huh?"

The door slowly opened to reveal a serious-looking Marie instead of the spell-casting Buffy wanna-be he'd been expecting. "Jubes is in Bobby's room throwing up. I, uh, I had a chance to talk to her about what happened here tonight. Can I come in?"

Logan nodded before his brain had a chance to protest – his Marie-nearness reflexes were strong and speedy – but even as she closed the door and seated herself next to him on the bed, he scrambled for some way to explain away whatever Jubes might've said. "You know, Jubes, she, ah, she's had a helluva lotta liquor tonight and – "

"And she wasn't drunk or crazy when she told me what happened. After I explained that I could touch now, well – her drinking pretty much recommenced at a fast clip. Hence the, uh, vomiting. Logan - she told me the whole story. I know what you did." He frowned. There was no way he could lie to her twice in one day. Not to those big brown eyes. "She told me something else about the spell, too – Caolainn's wishes, they're only good for 24 hours." First Logan's face fell, then it took on a decidedly angry expression. "Don't get upset, it's OK," Marie soothed. "You didn't know."

"Goddammit! That's worse than not havin' – " He promptly shut himself up, not wanting to make it worse for Marie.

"I don't think it's worse than not having it at all." She countered the unspoken thought while she removed her long gloves. "I still have twenty-one hours, by my count. That's more than I might've ever had, if it weren't for you."

"I'm sorry," he said helplessly. Even when he'd tried to do something good for her, to give something to her unselfishly, he still found a way to fuck it all up. He knew what she'd said, but giving her one day of touch and then stealing it away again was just about the worst possible thing he could think of doing to her. Well, with the exception of what he'd already done in throwing her over for Jean.

"I'm not," she whispered, scooting closer to him on the bed. "Logan, I know – I know things are difficult between us and that they have been for a while. But if I've got twenty-one hours of touch left, I – I was wondering if I could spend it with you." He was so dumbstruck by those words that he didn't notice her nervousness or that she wasn't finished. "I'd like to spend them making love to you, actually. If that's OK. If it's OK with you."

"I don't want it to be – I don't' want it to be wrong between us," he blurted out in almost disbelieving surprise. "All the shit that's happened……."

"I don't know if I can – can forget about it, but I want to – can we try to just set it aside for the next twenty-one hours? I don't want to hurt you or make things worse either, but………..I want this." She finished with downcast eyes, and in an ashamed whisper. He could tell that part of her trepidation was because she was going back on how firmly she'd pushed him away before. He knew what he'd done must've meant a helluva lot to her to turn her around on this – well, it was either that, or the brevity of the opportunity. Maybe it was easier for her to think of him as a one night stand, something to get out of her system as he had Jeannie. Even if that's not all he wanted, he thought with some embarrassment of his own, he'd take it. "You know what? I – I shouldn't have asked. I don't know what I was thinking, it was selfish and I – "

"No, no. It's OK. It's OK. I wanna do that if you want to too. We'll just – we'll just set it aside, pretend it never happened. We can both do that for a little while, right?" Marie nodded, and Logan took her bare hand in his. "Let me do this right for you, Marie. Let me – please, let me do this right with you." She nodded again.

Logan was actually quite prepared for this unexpected opportunity. He'd given much thought to what he might do if Marie ever let him come to her this way. He'd have to edit the plan a little – big parts of it consisted of apologies for turning her away all those years ago and assurances that he truly loved her and wanted to be with her always, but he was fairly sure that she didn't want to hear that now. She'd said she wanted to set it all aside, and for once in his life he was going to just do as Marie asked instead of doing what he thought might be best. He doubted that his track record could possibly be any worse this way. Still, he felt like he did need to tell her some things. He leaned close to her, and caressed her cheek with his free hand. "I love you, Marie. You're the only person I've ever loved."

"I love you too," she whispered, leaning in to kiss him. He let her, and let her take the lead, until she nudged at his lips with the tip of her tongue. At that, he couldn't resist becoming a more active participant; he cupped her head and tilted it so that their hungry mouths fit together perfectly. When things began to edge toward out-of-control, he parted from her, not wanting to ruin this experience by letting his desire escape its leash.

"Lie back," he instructed gently. When she did, he stripped himself of his shirt, then his jeans and socks. That had been all he was wearing, and he sat next to her, completely naked. He noticed her heart rate pick up, and her scent became suffused with a warm, languid wanting. Wide eyes roamed his form, devouring every muscle. Still, Logan knew that she wouldn't ask, so he did. "Do you wanna touch me? Explore a little bit?"

"I'd kind of like for you to touch me," she said shyly, tearing her eyes away. "Should I take these things off?"

"Let me," he purred, trying to blunt his eagerness with reminders that this was for her, not him. He tugged her skirt off first – not slowly but not hurriedly either. Then he began peeling her bodysuit off, starting at her shoulders. Rough hands caressed her left shoulder as he inched the material off of her. She sighed, and lifted her body off the bed to assist him. "Close your eyes, darlin'," he suggested. "Just feel."

Marie let her eyes flutter shut as he continued his deliciously slow progress. Her right shoulder was next, and then she felt his hands cupping the sides of her breasts, easing the bodysuit up and over them. It scraped against her erect nipples, causing her to moan as it did. Instinctively, she arched her back in response to the sensation; coincidentally, that also helped Logan undress her. When he got to her hips, he paused. Marie was languishing in sheer sensation and didn't notice at first, but then she blinked her eyes open to see what had stalled him.

He was hovering over her with his own eyes tightly shut, just breathing her in. Marie smiled, but then she saw his face pinch into a pained expression. Without opening his eyes, he lowered his head to her until it rested right between her breasts. She heard him mumbling but couldn't quite make out the words, only the tone – one of profound solemnity tinged with more than a little sorrow. "Logan?" she whispered. Maybe this had been a mistake – maybe she was hurting him too much, asking for this. She knew he wanted her, but, even if after what he'd done tonight she no longer thought that his desire was borne out of simply wanting what he didn't have at the moment, she wasn't positive that she could offer him her heart and soul without reservation. She knew that wasn't exactly fair. "We can stop," she ventured.

"No," he wrought out. "I just need a second, baby."

"Maybe we shouldn't – "

"Please." That single word tore at her heart. She brought her arms up around him and held him close. He needed more than a second; it was several minutes before his head raised and Marie could release him. He flashed an apologetic smile, then wordlessly continued undressing her.

She lay back, still unsure that they should go ahead, but when he was done, when she was nude, and he looked into her eyes, all doubts receded. She saw raw, consuming desire there and love, so much love. Not just protective love, not just compassion or pity or duty. It was the bone-deep, soul-solid kind of love she'd always felt for him. She couldn't help reaching for him and pulling him to her.

"Marie," he sighed as he sank closer, meeting her lips in a sensual kiss. She returned it, then let her small hands begin roaming his warm, strong body. Logan moved his lips to her neck, kissing and sucking at her exquisite skin every inch of the way. When those warm lips began to slide down the swell of her breast, her back arched again. "Yes," he encouraged, then slithered his hot, rough, wet tongue over her nipple. She'd proven responsive there already, and he wanted this to be perfectly suited to her, to be the best possible experience for her.

"Logan," she moaned as his mouth slid over her breast and began sucking. "God……"

"Baby, I love the way you taste," he murmured. "You taste like sweet cream."

"You taste like smoke," she sighed. For a moment, he winced at the idea of what the lingering cigar taste must be like for her, but she went on. "Smoky like good scotch. You taste just like – " Her breath hitched when he rewarded her compliment with a tender almost-bite of her nipple. " – just like I always imagined you would."

"Love you." He'd aimed for a whisper but it came out in a muted growl.

"I love you too." Both seemed to understand that those words were spoken for the moment, that neither would hold the other to them tomorrow, but that didn't shade the intensity of hearing them, of feeling them now. "Oh, Logan……….."

He'd planned to cover every inch of her with his mouth, but she was so responsive here and she was bucking her hips at him, in small movements but rhythmically. She was nearly ready, and he didn't intend to have her spend a moment wanting for exactly the kind of touch she needed. So, he left his mouth where it was, but his hands slid further south. He didn't try to part her legs – he'd leave that to her. But he did nestle his fingers inside the tangle of her dark curls, then inside her warm wetness. Resisting the urge to withdraw his fingers for a lick, he began rubbing her with a steady, persistent touch.

"Baby," he moaned, leaving her breast for only the barest moment. "Wantcha to tell me what you like, what feels good." He wanted to make her come like she never had before, like she never even dreamed of coming by her own hand. It was something he felt fairly confident he *could* give her, and any sure thing was welcome when it came to pleasing Marie.

"That's – that's – Logan, like that." He continued what he'd been doing, and soon, he noticed her bucking her hips against his hand faster, more frantically. He wanted to say so many things to her at this moment, while she orgasmed, thinking somehow that they'd have a clear path to her heart, free of any interference her brain might put up, but even more than he wanted to plead his own case with feverish whispered promises, he wanted this to be good for her, be everything she needed and wanted. In the end, he kept his mouth on her responsive breast, giving her the stimulation that she seemed to revel in as much as she did his other touch. Before too long, she began moving more jerkily. Logan made himself pay close attention as she finally spasmed, seized, and screamed out his name. He wanted to freeze every detail of her scent, feel, and taste in his mind – this was *his* Marie, the way he'd dreamed of having her. As she gave out a final groan or two and came down from her peak, he stroked her gently, lightly, not wanting to take all sensation away but knowing that an arousing touch would be too much. "Logan………" she panted, and he felt her hands thread themselves through his thick, unruly hair and gently tug on it to raise his head. "Taste me. Please, I want to feel you – "

"Yes," he interrupted in a ragged breath. He couldn't move down her body and settle his mouth between her legs fast enough. Greedily lapping at her, she was soon moving her hips against him again. His own heart began pounding just as fast as hers, on fire to taste her at the first moment of another release. When he curled a hand up to rest low on her belly, then pushed inside her with two fingers of his other hand, all the while never stopping his lips and tongue, he was rewarded with a gasp. When he fitted his fingers as far inside her as they would go while pressing down with the hand atop her stomach, she exploded, and Logan felt his own body suddenly stiffen and come. She hadn't even touched him; her scent and thick, rich taste had driven him over the edge all on their own.

She moaned for him and again raised his head to her. Without thinking, he pressed an open-mouthed kiss against her lips. She was surprised but didn't seem offended; quite the contrary. She eagerly suckled Logan's tongue and arched up to press the length of her body to his. When the kiss finally ended, Logan breathed, "Fuck." Marie smiled, understanding the sentiment and more than a bit awed that she had the power to make him this way. Emboldened by the unbridled intimacy of what had just happened between them, she rolled them both over, pushing Logan down on his back.

"My turn to taste you," she purred, diving straight down between his legs. She hadn't meant to leave him devoid of foreplay, but she simply couldn't wait. Surprised to find him soft, at first she hesitated, but when she saw the pearly white evidence of his climax on his thigh, she resumed her attentions. She licked him from base to tip, then back again, circling his testicles with her tongue for good measure. There was no word for the taste of him here in her vocabulary; the only word that came to mind was male. "Mmmm……….."

"Marie – Marie – "

"Tell me," she purred, in between long licks.

"In your mouth. The end, the – aaah!" She'd immediately followed his request, taking the tip inside her warm mouth and swirling her tongue around it, favoring the small slit with several firm licks as she did. "Marie…….." He hadn't wanted to ask her for anything in bed – this was supposed to be for her. But it had come out before he could get his brain to stop it, and now – now he was fairly sure that no further speech aside from her name would be possible. She took him deeper, sucked him more strongly, and began palming his testicles for even more stimulation. The soft slurping sounds she made, the feel of her slick tongue and the small droplet of saliva that was sliding down her chin all conspired to drive Logan to the edge in no time. "Marie! I'm gonna – " And then he did, harder than he thought possible. "Unnnhhh!" Her mouth didn't stop, she didn't break a bit in her attentions, and he hoped that meant this was OK with her, that it was what she wanted. When the last of him had been spent and was sliding down her throat, she finally slowed, then gently eased from him altogether.

His hands reached out for her as she knelt between his legs, and she regarded him for a moment, licking her lips and sliding her hand back and forth across her stomach as she did. Logan's eyes flared at her unabashed enjoyment of his seed inside her, and he impatiently sat up and reached for her, pulling her down to kiss him, to share the taste. Marie's mouth opened to him willingly and completely. Before he realized it, he's flipped her over onto her back and had nudged her legs apart with his knee. Catching himself just in time, he broke their kiss and parted from her, just an inch or two. "I've never had anythin' this good in my whole life. I love you." Marie leaned up and kissed him. He kissed her back, long and hard, before going on in a tender whisper, right against her ear. "I'm hard for you again, baby, and I'm achin' to be inside you. Please – tell me you want this."

"I do. I do. God, I want you so much. I can't get enough of you, Logan, never enough." He growled, then gave her a passionate kiss while shifting her legs fully apart. His mouth stayed on hers as he penetrated her. It wasn't as slow or gentle as he knew he should've been but once he was lodged inside her, he waited, giving her body time to accommodate him. He added some firm caresses of her breasts to the kiss, hoping that the resulting arousal would ease the ache inside her. It must have, because in just minutes, she began rolling her hips, riding him. He let her, until she was close, very close, and then he began moving too, eliciting screams of the very best kind from her.

The whole bed was shaking, they were both sweating, and, if it hadn't been for the blaring party music, the entire mansion would've heard them. When their climax came, everything stopped – their breathing, their hearts, their thoughts. It seemed almost as though time itself had paused in tribute to their intimacy, their connection. But in the moment after, there was a symphonic roar of pounding hearts, gasping breaths, and lovers' moans. When Logan finally looked up at Marie's face, she had a serenity and a satisfaction that he'd never seen on her. Even if tomorrow, all this disappeared, he knew that the pain would be worth it to have looked upon her when she looked like that.

"I love you," he whispered, his voice thick with exertion and emotion. "I love you."

"Love you too," she panted, having a harder time recovering than he did.

"C'mere." He rolled them over, putting his back to the mattress and nestling her on top of him. "Darlin'………….."

"Thank you," she whispered. Much to his chagrin, the first thought he had in response to her words was disappointment that they would not be going again. But when she repeated it and coupled it with a solemn kiss over his heart, he knew that it was just what she'd needed to say.

"Whatever happens, Marie, I will always be grateful to you for this." Uncharacteristically, he'd enunciated each word, almost as though he wanted to be sure she missed nothing of his declaration. "Thank. You." She squeezed him tight, and he squeezed her back, knowing that there was much more to be said with his body, but that the important words had been spoken.

Logan didn't sleep, although eventually Marie did. He knew that she needed rest – he'd kept her awake all of the night and well into the next afternoon - so he just held her close, forming her naked body to his. When the time came, when the wish was about to expire, he thought about waking her, but decided against it. He just kept holding her, waiting for the pull to signal the end of their ephemeral paradise. It came, eventually, and woke Marie with a jolt, less from the effect of her mutation than the sudden absence of Logan's warm body. Sleepily, she rolled over, looking for him.

"Hey," he greeted, wiggling the sheet up and wafting it over her. He saw her lips tremble and her eyes grow teary with understanding. It was over; they both knew it. But Logan had no intention of letting the moments they'd shared be ended just because of that. He snuggled her back close to him, just like he'd been holding her a moment ago. Marie just began crying softly. "Shhh, baby. I'm sorry. I'm sorry it didn't last longer. But I'm not sorry we had last night."

"Me either," she forced out.

"I was hopin' you would stay with me tonight, just – just sleep over here. I got pretty usedta holdin' you, darlin'." He hoped the light tone of the words would help not to scare her off. But when she didn't respond, he added, "We don't hafta do what we did last night if you don't want."

"It won't ever be that way again. We can't ever – " The tears overtook her, but Logan was proud at how quickly she fought them back.

When he thought she was reasonably collected, he buried his face in her hair and whispered in her ear, "Nothin' will ever be like last night, darlin', and I don't mean 'cause we could touch. Last night was our first time, and you only get one of those. I'd – I love you and I'd like a lot more times with you. I'd like a whole life with you. I love you, and Marie, that includes everythin' about you, your skin too."

"Logan – I – I love you too, but – "

"No buts. No buts. If you want – God, baby, if you want to be with me, that's all that matters."

"Maybe now, but eventually you'll need other things."

"I only need three things – air, water, and you. Everythin' else is optional. Christ, Marie, I'd give up the other two if I could have you. My healin' factor would find a way, probably." He'd hoped that would get a small chuckle but he pressed on when she was silent. "I love you," he repeated, his mind still spinning from her 'I love you too' but determined nonetheless to take the opportunity he had with her. It might be the only one he'd get. "I'm always gonna love you." He ran a finger down her arm, protected by the sheet. "Truth is, I love your skin, lethal or not. I've never seen anythin' so pale, so perfect. I could look at you naked all day." That did get a chuckle. "Stay with me," he whispered with a fierce intensity. He knew this was the moment, this was when she would decide.

"OK," she finally answered. His body relaxed and he let out a breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding. "I love you a lot, and I – I really want to be with you. I wasn't sure until last night that – that you wanted that the same way, but you used your one wish to give me touch. You did that instead of wishing something for yourself or even wishing to make me be with you."

"I love you," he answered by way of explanation.

"You know, I never get tired of hearing that." Now he laughed, and kissed her hair. "Logan – last night, when we were close, you were whispering something. What was it?"

He frowned. He'd wanted to do it last night, had planned it long ago in fact, when he'd thought about what he'd do if he ever got to make love to her. But now, it might be too much, too soon. "They were vows," he equivocated.

"Vows?" She wiggled around to face him, and he knew he'd have to answer now. Those eyes of hers, they looked right into him.

"Vows. I said – if you give me your body, I will defend it with every bit of bone and blood in mine. If you give me your heart, I will protect it with my own. If you give me your soul, I will join it to mine and make us one." He paused, and swallowed. Those hadn't been the hard ones. "But if you can't give me any of you, I will hope for you to find all the love I wanted to give you and more."

Marie was speechless, awed, and getting teary. "Logan………"

"I promised myself, Marie, I swore that I would never ever tell you that you couldn't have anythin' you wanted from me ever again. I swore it, and I wrote those vows to say to you if – if I ever got a chance to. I thought a lot about what just the right words would be. But I didn't wanna mess anythin' up last night, so I just whispered them against your body. I whispered them to your heart."

"My heart heard them." She hugged herself to him, burying her face against his sheet-covered shoulder. "And I want that too. I want to take those vows too. You know – we can say them to each other anytime you want, but tomorrow would be an especially good day for it."

"Tomorrow?" Logan asked. "Why?"

"It's All Souls Day, the day after All Saint's Day, which is the day after Halloween."

"The only souls I really care about are yours and mine, darlin'." He rubbed her back, considering. "But you're right, it's a good day for it." He snuggled down into the covers, holding her tightly. Every day was a good day, as long as it could be spent with Marie.

"STATE YOUR BUSINESS."

"Uh, dude, I'm, like, totally here for the wish thing." A puff of smoke signaled the appearance of the goddess Caolainn. Jubes grinned from ear to ear. "Bitchin'."

"So……you are here for a wish, are you?" Caolainn's eyes beamed with almost as much mischief as Jubes'.

"Yep, and I don't need to look into the well. I already know what I want, chica." She'd given it a lot of thought, actually. Jubes knew well what she'd see if she looked down into the waters – her parents. She missed them desperately, but, in the end, she decided against wishing to see them again. Having them come back for only 24 hours and then losing them all over again would just be too hard to take. There were other 'serious' things she'd considered too – giving Hank a day free of his mutation, giving Kitty a day of hot Scott lovin', giving the Professor the use of his legs back for a day. But after she'd thought about it for a while, she realized that all those wishes – well, losing them after just a day of having them would hurt each of her friends as much as losing her parents would hurt her. She wouldn't be doing them any favors, not really. And she knew this particular goddess' penchant for granting wishes designed only to show that the wish-ee didn't really want what they thought they wanted – Jubes' friends didn't need Caolainn using their most desperate wishes to teach them some kind of lesson, purely for the goddess' own entertainment. Even if Logan's wish had somehow turned out OK in the end, she didn't trust the powers that be to cut her too many breaks.

"Well, then – have out with it, mortal." Caolainn put on a stern face, but Jubes knew that inside she was just waiting to see what the wish would be, and how she could twist it. Actually, Jubes didn't really begrudge her that – it was just how some goddesses are, and she'd actually selected this particular wish in part to give Caolainn some entertainment as kind of a thank you for not screwing up Logan's wish too much.

"I wish for St. John to find me irresistible. That man has a hot ass, and I want me some lovin'." St. John had always been attractive to girls, and he knew it. It wouldn't hurt to bring him down a notch or two by getting him to 'lower himself' to Jubes, one of the girls he'd judged 'just not good enough' in their class. And besides, Jubes *did* need an outlet for her hormones – the mansion cucumbers kept mysteriously disappearing lately, and someone would catch on eventually. St. John would be the perfect non-vegetable one-night stand.

Caolainn smiled. "As you wish…." she intoned. With a wave of her hand, all turned black for a moment before Jubilee found herself back at the mansion, in her room. Everything looked the same as before, with one notable exception – she had a little company, in the form of a lovestruck St. John, kneeling at her feet and holding a bouquet of roses.

"Oh, Jubilation, you are the most lovely woman I have ever seen. Please do me the honor of accompanying me to lunch in the dining hall."

Jubes spluttered in laughter – this flowery talk was going to embarrass St. John all the more. She definitely had to show that off in the cafeteria. "Sure, dude." She took his hand, and, with a silent wink skyward in deference to Caolainn, they set off.