As Logan helped Marie from the car, she pressed something silky into his hand, her face carefully blank as she swept into the hotel with regal grace; not like a queen, like a lioness. She owned the space around her, golden and wild.

"Fuck," he muttered to himself, covertly tucking the scrap of lace into the deep pocket of his coat. He'd never even seen her slip them off. The tiny bit of lingerie was still warm and slightly damp. He swallowed a groan, fingering the fine material with one hand while pushing the elevator's call button with the other. As the doors swept closed behind him, the look she gave him could have blistered glass.

Usually on nights like this he felt like he was chasing prey. Tonight it felt like a game of cat and mouse played with an equal, and that was as disturbing as it was intriguing.

Logan shifted his weight as he waited for the elevator to reach his floor. He was a predator by nature. That he could not be still said a lot about his state of mind.

"They're still warm," he said, wondering what she'd make of that as he stepped closer to her inside the small, enclosed space. His teeth flashed as she shivered.

"Good."

God, that slow drawl crawled over his skin like honey, but her scent said she wasn't immune to him, either.

He watched her eyes flick to the little lighted numbers as they climbed higher. He took advantage of her inattention to admire her magnificent ass in the fine cut of her knee-length skirt and the way her indecently enticing shoes accentuated the graceful arch of her foot. Christ, her legs were hot as hell. And she had damned fine taste in shoes. It was the woman in them, however, that was really lighting his fire. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about her was really doing it for him.

Still, she wasn't the only one who could play the provocateur. Tonight he wasn't dancing to any tune but his own. Her gaze shifted back to him and he let her see him looking. And wanting. Waiting until their eyes met again, he deliberately pulled the scrap of pale green silk out of his pocket, rubbing the soft fabric between his thick fingers. He enjoyed watching her eyes flare with surprise.

Her mind whirled. Surely he wasn't crass enough to...

But he did, crudely holding the exquisite fabric to his nose and inhaling her subtle fragrance with a devilish leer.

Marie's face flamed. Did he not know the rules of such a liaison or did he simply not care? What a thrilling prospect!

The warm musky scent tickled some primal place deep in his brain. A wild tingle of excitement raced under his skin. He moved faster than she could have imagined, pinning her there against the cold unyielding wall of the elevator, but instead of kissing her as she expected, he touched the silk of her panties to the inside of her wrist and then to the soft vulnerable hollow of her throat. His nose followed and then his tongue. It was wet and strong. Her insides turned to jelly. Marie shuddered and he backed off with a wry smile, tucking the lacy scrap back into his pocket as the elevator doors slid open with a soft whoosh.

"You taste even better than you smell, darlin'," he whispered into her hair before leading her out into the softly lit hallway.

The alcohol made him feel both pleasantly loose and less deft than usual as he fumbled momentarily with the keycard. A dark primal hunger was rising in him and his lust-soaked brain made him feel as if he was walking through thick honey. She was intoxicating and he couldn't think beyond anything but shoving himself inside her the moment the door closed behind them.

They fell on each other with feral intensity an instant after the tumblers tripped into place with a soft click. In moments his zipper was down and her skirt was up. Her full, red mouth rounded into a soft 'O' of appreciative surprise as his thick cock jutted up between them. He was big; blunt and heavy. And so impossibly male. Thick and throbbing, it was a showy testament to his virility. She watched a drop of fluid form at the tip and begin to slide down...

"Oh..." she breathed, the sound falling away on a hum of pleasure as he fit the wide head between her slick pouty folds and rubbed back and forth, crudely stimulating them both.

"Condom?" he growled against her throat.

"Pill," she gasped back as he rubbed against her just right. She was invulnerable to anything else.

That was all he needed to hear.

Catching her behind the knee and wrapping her leg around him, he bent his own knees and thrust upwards, pushing into her glossy heat.

"Christ," he groaned.

Marie saw stars. White lights were dancing in Logan's head. They both swayed. And he wasn't even all the way in yet.

He put his mouth to her ear. "Can you take a little more, baby?"

Her delicate skin was already stretched taut around him, but she wanted more of that sinfully extravagant pleasure. "More..." Her fingers clutched at his lapel before twining round his neck.

He didn't give her any time to prepare. Fitting both large hands under her shapely bottom, he lifted her into him and let gravity do the rest. A mutual groan of pleasure echoed loudly in the small foyer as she sank down in an impossibly slow slide that left her reeling. He was so thick. Her body struggled to accept his. The blunt pressure was sublime. He waited until she had slipped all the way down his cock before shoving in that final measure. That time she screamed. And then he did it again, just to hear that gratifying sound one more time.

Marie had never been so full. Not just between her legs, but everywhere. He was just so much. His primal physicality. The raw force of his personality. The unapologetic penetration. Everything. The sensation was painfully exquisite; pleasure and ecstasy and a deep burning stretch that filled a hidden need in some dark primitive place in her mind.

Logan felt invincible, poised on the edge of erotic violence. His mind might be fogged by lust but his heart was racing. Adrenaline-fueled arousal gave his formidable strength an almost brutal edge as he rocked her over him while continuing to thrust from beneath. He moved her easily, as if she weighed nothing. She felt feather-light in his arms, like dancing with a wisp of fog as her tight little body squeezed his cock with strong arrhythmic contractions.

It was shockingly good. And far too brief. She moaned into his mouth. He bit her lip. Her passionate cries and his deep grunts rose in a crescendo along with the crude wet slapping sounds as they spent themselves in a violent tempest against each other with a gush of slick fluid and a litany of shuddering sighs.

Still almost fully dressed, they stood there not two steps from the door catching their breath, she pierced deep by his body and he sweating and trembling from his exertions. They could both feel the hot splash of his orgasm, easing the friction of their sensitive, engorged flesh. It was startlingly intimate, perhaps the most vulnerable moment they'd yet shared. His big hand was rubbing the small of her back softly. She could feel him still twitching inside her and every so often, a deep shuddering aftershock would ripple through her, making his breath hitch as she compressed his over-stimulated flesh.

Impossibly, he seemed to be growing harder inside her instead of slipping out on the remains of their spent passion. She rubbed against him gently, rocking sensually against the wiry curls at his base. Her body ached, but the tide of pleasure was already beginning to rise once again. A languid smile touched her full lips.

"For a man who doesn't talk much, you certainly know how to break the ice, sugar." Above her flushed cheeks, her eyes danced merrily and they enjoyed a soft chuckle together while her delicate fingers tenderly smoothed back his damp, wild hair.

"Sweetheart, I'm just gettin' started." He was going to fuck her until he couldn't goddamn move.

What followed were several hours of some of the most uninhibited sex he could ever remember having. He was never that open with anyone. It had been raw and dirty and crude and... fun. And had he mentioned dirty? A veritable cornucopia of taboo carnal delights. There was just something about sex with a stranger that made it so easy to let go, to just be the sexual creature one tends to hide from a proper lover for fear of rejection or offending them with a kinky suggestion or dirty talk.

She was an engaging companion, sharp and witty and so comfortable with her body. It was clear she liked sex and was blessedly free of hang-ups, almost frighteningly so. He had never met anyone so at ease with sex, sexuality and all of the wickedly delicious things two people with open minds could think up to do to each other. And yet, he also got the sense this was something she didn't do often. He wasn't her first lover, but she had an innocence about her that wormed deeply under his skin. He'd never laughed in bed with a woman the way he had with her.

~ooOoo~

A long while later when indeed he could not move, just as he'd promised himself earlier, he was lying on his back smoking a cigar with his arm flung above his head while he contemplated the woman beside him.

She was smiling at him. "That was incredible...er..." It was at that moment that she realized she still didn't know his name.

"Lucky," he supplied helpfully, chuckling at his own bad joke.

Her smile widened as she stuck out her hand in greeting. "Well then, 'Lucky', I suppose that would make me 'Felicity'." Felicity, the state of being joyously happy. A high degree of joyful bliss. Well, that was certainly fitting. And also a bit disconcerting. She had already let him in far too deep and with the return of clarity, Marie was feeling the urge to bolt before she did something stupid. Like fall for him.

"Heh. Good one." He kissed her fingers softly. They smelled of sex and he smiled. "How can you even think after a ride that wild, darlin'?" He felt like he'd shot out his brain along with a gallon of come. Even with the healing, he was completely spent.

"Easy." She extracted her hand. "I'm a woman."

He groaned playfully and fell back against the pillows, thinking that he'd really like a few hours of sleep, some room service, and a mutual shower that became round two if he was lucky. He had plenty of time for that. He had a good sixteen hours before he was due to meet back up with Storm for their mission tonight. He was still contemplating round two when she slipped out of bed and began gathering her clothes, unconcerned with her nudity as she stooped and bent, plucking articles of her clothing from the odd places they'd landed in his haste to strip them off her.

And just that quickly, everything suddenly came to a screeching halt.

"You leavin' already?" He didn't like that one little bit.

Worse, she stopped mid-gather when the annoying chirp of a cell phone broke the strained silence. She paused to look at the display of a slick little phone he hadn't even realized she'd been carrying when they fell in the door.

"Leave the money on the nightstand when you go then, why dontcha." He muttered sourly, suddenly feeling used. It was a first for him, at least in this context.

She shrugged apologetically clutching the phone like a lifeline, grateful for the excuse to make her escape. "I have to take this... It's- it's work." Ignoring his rude snort of disapproval, she answered it directly.

"It's two in the fuckin' mornin'! What kind of goddamn work do you do?"

Marie was distracted. A manic new client with a heavy brogue was shouting gibberish in one ear while her aggravated bedmate was griping in the other. "Lawyer," she finally managed by covering the receiver while simultaneously hopping about trying to put on her shoes.

That knocked him back so hard it was impossible to enjoy the view as she bent to retrieve something lacy from under the table. "International law?" he inquired hopefully. That might explain a call at this time of the morning.

She shook her head while fastening her bra.

"Corporate?" Less hopeful this time. He was annoyed enough that it didn't even matter to him that he might be interrupting a sensitive conversation. Who took fucking calls in the middle of the night? Besides men like him, of course...he thought ruefully.

She shook her head again, slipping her skirt up over her slender hips.

"Contracts?" A heavy feeling was developing in the pit of his stomach that had nothing to do with the massive quantity of alcohol that he'd consumed earlier. His unique metabolism had burned through most of that already. He was entirely too sober at the moment.

"Sort of..." Marie paused, buttoning up her suit jacket over her silky blouse before uncovering the receiver once more. 'Lucky' was starting to annoy her. She was nodding along, making little sounds of affirmation as the caller continued to rattle on.

"Christ, just tell me. It's too fuckin' late for twenty questions, honey." He rolled over with a huff, yanking the covers up over his nakedness. He was feeling uncharacteristically vulnerable and he didn't much care for it.

She didn't need to tell him, though. He already knew the answer. There was only one reason she'd be so coy. He'd bet every last dime that she was a divorce lawyer. He shuddered, remembering the barracuda Jean had hired for their divorce shortly before he escaped to Japan. Now there was a bitch of the first water. No wonder the woman in his bed tonight had been so uninhibited. She probably didn't have a conscience or a soul at all, he thought uncharitably. He could just imagine her sitting there cold and calculating, using that sharp mind of her to tear some poor bastard to shreds for daring to love the wrong woman. That thought suddenly hit a little too close to home.

Covering the phone one last time she slipped in, "Family law," while the client on the line took a much needed breath. She'd been waiting on his call. Sure, it was inopportune, but when children and allegations of abuse were being thrown around, a few hours could make a world of difference.

So she was a divorce lawyer. He knew it.

Logan was still pissed, but he couldn't help but be impressed at how quickly and how artfully 'Felicity' had managed to restore her appearance. She was hardly as fresh as when they fell in the door, but she no longer had that 'I've-just-been-fucked-within-an-inch-of-my-life' look that he had been admiring earlier.

Her cheeks were flushed and her skirt was a bit worse for the wear, but she somehow managed to twist the tumbled mass of curls back up on her head in a smooth artful sweep and secured it with a few clips from her handbag. When she slipped into her stylish knee-length winter coat and refastened the earring he'd bitten off earlier, you'd never know what she'd just been doing.

Except for the touch of beard burn on her throat. Well, that and the fact that she absolutely reeked of him, a primal thought that couldn't help but make him smile despite his displeasure at his present circumstances. There was something about his most intimate scent all over her that just seemed so terrifyingly right… and that was profoundly disturbing.

He watched with interest as she scrawled something on a piece of hotel stationary. A note with her card tucked inside? Maybe things weren't as bad as he'd imagined, though he doubted it. She had piqued his curiosity yet again as she tucked the note into his hand and slipped out the door with her cell on her ear and an apologetic smile on her full, red lips. Lips that had been over every inch of his body. His cock twitched. His heart did, too.

~ooOoo~

Marie made it to the elevator before collapsing against the wall with a silent sigh. It had taken real effort to leave a man like that behind. She couldn't quite congratulate herself, however, while feeling that she'd somehow made a horrible mistake... but it was done.

Over.

She didn't know his name and she wasn't coming back. Her heart was still safe behind the impenetrable wall she'd built around it; a thought that amused her considering he'd managed to penetrate her in practically every other way possible. It seemed she'd left just in the nick of time. If there was ever a man made to ferret out the chinks in a woman's armor... but then she'd always liked living on the edge.

Not that he'd seemed so interested after she'd told him what she did, however. Men always got the wrong impression and she encouraged it. In truth, now that she'd made a name for herself, she only took male clients. She had her own reasons for that, but none she'd ever cared to share with anyone outside her immediate family.

Stepping out into the foggy night, Marie slipped into a waiting cab with a small wince of pain as her overused muscles protested, but there was a satisfied smile on her lips. She'd never been so satiated. Pressing a hand against her middle to quell the riotous feelings inside, she took a deep clarifying breath and tried to let the night pass into memory. She had work to do. The man on the line needed a lawyer badly. And lucky for him, she was a damned good one.

Back upstairs, Logan's black mood had returned. Were things so fucking bad that he couldn't even get a one night stand right anymore? Of all people, he picked a fucking divorce lawyer? He supposed he was lucky to have been left with his balls intact. But despite it all, she had gotten under his skin, though he wasn't quite sure how or why. Still, he couldn't bring himself to be truly furious. At least not at her. He had enjoyed himself and the sex had been fucking amazing. It was hard to decide if he was more upset at her or himself.

For too long he hadn't given a damn, but the woman he'd met tonight had begun to change that. He frowned. Tonight he had been treated by a woman like he'd been treating them for as long as he could remember, and he found he didn't much like it.

It was a different sort of anger smoldering in him now than there had been before. He was aware of the change and though he knew the cause, he hadn't yet identified the effect or even what exactly had shifted. He was dangerous now and his brief encounter with the mystery woman tonight had only raised the bar. She'd presented a challenge - something he needed - even if he was unaware of it at the moment. He hadn't quite yet put the pieces together, but he would in time. His sharp mind would turn it all over and over until the pieces fit, until he had the answer, a direction, a course of action... and maybe even a small sliver of peace.

But at the moment, he was stewing in his own juices. He sat up and thumped the headboard, smoking ominously, her note crushed in his fist. It wasn't her card or her number. Smoothing out the rumpled paper, he read the note again, taking an aggressive drag off the cigar as his eyes followed her feminine, loopy scrawl.

Lucky—

You should be bronzed! I've never had a night like that in my life. I'll always remember it – and you – very fondly. And for the love of God, if you have a girlfriend or, heaven forbid, a wife... take the evidence out of your coat pocket before you get home.

XOXO
M

Logan shook his head. Evidence? Fucking lawyers!

She could keep her advice.

He was definitely keeping the 'evidence'.

She might have run but she'd made a serious miscalculation there. Those streaks in her hair were too distinctive to go unnoticed. After the mission was over, he intended to find her before the marks he'd put on her had even faded from her creamy skin.

M?

There was another puzzle for him to unravel.

He wanted answers and he'd damn well have them. He wanted her name. And he wanted to give her his... and then hear her gasp it against his throat.

This wasn't over. She could run, but she couldn't hide. The Wolverine never forgot a scent.

Feedback is love! :)

Author's note: This will not become a series. This will not become a series. This will not become a series. Say it with me now before the bunnies take over permanently! lol You guys rock. Thanks for all the feedback, PM's and comments. I love knowing what y'all think... though you'd be surprised how often a bit of stray feedback inspires a whole truckload of new bunnies. It's downright dangerous, I tell ya!

Up next…. Just in time for Halloween… something dark, disturbing, and dirty as all hell. Don't let the mention of an OC scare ya off here. She's just a means to a (naughty) end. Heh.

In Pride's Shadow
Monstrous dark things live in the shadows and the Wolverine is the darkest of them all. Marie works behind the bar. A certain cage fighter has caught her eye... AU. Dark. W/R W/OC (Marie POV)

After that…. lots of stuff in the pipeline:

A Work of Heart
Logan comes back from Japan to find a very different Marie than he remembers. Chalk. Ink. Gouache. Watercolor. A young artist reveals a man's heart, one colorful stroke at a time. W/R

Sanctuary
A girl alone on a snowy road needs a ride. She offers up the only thing she has of value to trade: herself. An alternative look at how Rogue's first meeting with the Wolverine might have gone if she'd had to talk her way into his truck instead of hiding in his trailer. W/R AU

Shine Against Me
Logan and Marie and talk about pornography… and then things get crazy. 20+ chapters (and counting!)

Walk the Line
Marie comes back after taking the Cure. "She'd always defend him though, even now – powerless and helpless, and they both knew it. It didn't even need saying. The care of this beautiful man was written in her bones."
9ish chapters (and counting)

Fine Art
After being on her own for several years, Marie returns to the mansion. Things get painted. Sparks fly. AU
(5 chapters. Unfinished, but y'all said you wanted to see it anyway!)

I've also been getting a lot of questions about Holding Ground II. It's still at least six months out. Sorry! It's currently on the back burner. Doctorg (my beta) says she's refusing to read anything else until I write her more of Shine Against Me. (There's a teensy, tiny chance I might have left Logan and Marie alone in an elevator at a sex club while I took a few months off to finish writing Run). Heh. Onward!

Certifiable… as always!