A Thief in the Night

Gambit stepped out of the shadows and into sight. He spun his staff menacingly. "Rogue, as soon as you get de chance, run."


"He can't use his mutation." She blurted out. "We're both inhibited by these." She held out her ankle and showed him the black band. Gambit circled Pietro who took a wide stance.


"De way I see iommeomme." Gambit said, "You got two choices, you fight me wit no powers, or you take off de anklet and I'm guessin' de X-men gonna find you real quick, Non?" It was really not much of a choice.


"Why do you want her so much?" Pietro asked, "You can't touch her like I do." He taunted. "You can't make her feel what I can."


"You a fool if you tink dat no man's figured out a way around her mutation before." When Pietro glanced back at Rogue then to Remy's face, his expression turned to one of rage. "By de way, yo sister says hello."


Pietro attacked him, producing a knife from his waistband. Gambit gave him a few sharp blows to the stomach and groin and watched with a small smile as Pietro doubled over in pain. Then, when Pietro leaned down with the knife, to his own ankle, he pushed to button on his staff that produced sleeping gas. Pietro was unconscious a scant heartbeat later. He produced a pair of restraints from his coat and applied them to the man's wrists. Then he stood and faced Rogue. She swayed slightly on her feet as she tried to re-tie the sheet around her and he moved to hold her arm to steady her.


"Thank you." She said, feeling tears slip down her cheeks. Remy embraced her tightly and she leaned into his touch. "Ah'm sorry." She said, stumbling against him, shakily.


"Why?" He asked, removing his coat and putting it around her shoulders. The longer she tried to stay upright, the harder the tranquilizer hit her system. "Neva mind. Gambit gonna get you someplace safe." He steered her to the front door and into the hallway.


"Where are we going?" She asked. "Back to my place?"


"Non, Chere, but when we get to de car, you gonna call yo friends and tell dem dat you okay."


"If you know where we are, why didn't you tell them already?" She tried to twist her head around to look up at him.


"Gambit made a deal to find you. Can't let Pietro get caught by yo friends, an he gotta be left in
one piece fo now." When she started to protest, he just urged her down the back stairs of the building. When they reached the street, he picked her up and carried her to the car, mindful of the winter weather and her lack of shoes. He put her in Warren's Mercedes and turned the heat up. It did little to dispel the cold that rushed in the window he'd broken to get into the car, but he drove fast and pulled up in front of a pub twenty minutes later. It was nearly Midnight, but the bar was still doing a booming business. Remy lifted her out of the passenger seat and nodded to the doorman then jerked his head in the direction of the Mercedes; the man who nodded back and walked toward the sleek car.


Gambit opened a side door that le a n a narrow set of stairs. At the top of the stairs he opened another door with a key and carried Rogue into a large studio. Rogue felt herself drifting off but struggled to stay awake. Remy pulled out his phone and handed it to her after punching in a series of numbers.


"Who is it?" She mumbled.


"Xavier." He replied. "Don tell dem where you are, jus tell dem you're safe. Xavier will know you ain't lyin'." She obeyed and he took the phone back to hear a concerned Charles Xavier talking back to him. "Don worry, she gonna be okay. She jus need a little time to rest. Don wan her where Pietro might find her. She call you tomorrow." Then he hung up. Rogue's legs were trembling and Remy gently removed his coat from her shoulders and led her to the giant bed that was covered in soft pillows and thick blankets.


"Ah expected your bed to be all silk and satin." She mumbled, practically falling onto the mattress. A ratty afghan was folded neatly at the foot of the bed. "This is much better." Remy pulled back the clean, cotton sheets and dark, red flannel comforter. He squatted down in front of her knees and loosened the silk sheet at her shoulder. It fell to her waist and she stiffened slightly.


"S'okay, Chere. Jus wan you to get some rest." He put his hands at her sides and slid her backwards until her naked back rested against the pile of pillows at the head of the bed. As if she were a baby, he tucked her feet under the blankets and pulled them up to her chin. Her eyes closed and he started to turn away when her voice stopped him.


"Can you lie with me?" She asked. "Ah think Pietro was telling me the truth when he said that the inhibitor would last a few weeks, and Ah just want to feel someone sleep beside me. Just this once, and Ah won't ask again." Her voice wavered with fear and doubt. Remy didn't say anything, but he removed his clothes and walked around the other side of the bed. He slipped beneath the covers and reached for her. She tensed when he touched her skin with an ungloved hand for the first time. The tension was replaced by a sigh of relief and she inched clumsily backward in an attempt to feel more of him. The surface of her skin was still chilled to the touch, but it didn't make it any less arousing for Gambit to feel her pressed, full-length against him. Her voce was very slurred when she spoke again. "Can we make love soon?" She mumbled.


"Oui, Chere." He replied, "But first you sleep." He commanded his body to relax and it obeyed, albeit with some protest, arguing that a soft naked female was in bed and it had important work to do. The sound of her breathing soothed him in a way that none other had. He just felt right when he was with her. Though it wasn't his habit, he dozed lightly for a few hours. It was a unique pleasure to sleep beside the woman he'd fallen for. And Remy LeBeau had fallen hard. He hadn't known what it was about the little minx, but he guessed it was the desperate need she had, deep down, to be loved. She wouldn't allow herself to feel the love her friends offered, Remy understood that, but he would make her feel it from him.


Rogue slept deeply under the influence of the drug that Pietro had given her. She became restless when her head began to hurt again. She woke to the feeling of warm, naked flesh against her own sensitive skin. She kept her eyes closed and just enjoyed the feeling of Remy's strong body behind her. She could feel each and every hair on his chest that tickled her back and his soft lips against her ear. A long, arm was draped around her middle and an elegant hand kept her anchored to him. She could feel the band around her ankle. She wasn’t certain how the inhibitor worked, but she could feel it vibrating against her skin. It was subtle, but she could feel it in her bones. Her vision was still blurry, and her head felt fuzzy, but her thoughts came to her more clearly.


It was still dark, the broad windows that lined the front of the studio were covered, but Rogue could detect very little light from them. The noise that had been coming from the pub downstairs, was gone as well. She started to push herself up when the arm around her suddenly tightened and Remy made a sound of protest behind her.


"Hey." She said softly, turning over and looking into red on black eyes. "Ah was just going to use your…um, facilities." White teeth flashed at her in the dark and he pointed to a doorway off to the left. Rogue slipped out from under the covers and picked up the discarded silk sheet she'd liberated from Pietro's. Remy whistled appreciatively at her naked form before it was hidden under the sheet again. She used his facilities and splashed some water on her face, then used a washcloth to give herself a good, once-over, attempting to erase the scent of Pietro's aftershave. She looked at the shower with longing. Instead, she opened the door and came face to face with Remy. Face to collarbone was more accurate.


"My turn." The big, naked Cajun replied; Rogue blushed and returned to the bed. She had no idea how long she'd slept before Pietro had awakened her, and she wasn't sure how long she'd napped with Gambit. The clock said it was nearly four in the morning. She guessed that she and her friends had left their apartment at around ten so she'd been in varying states of unconsciousness for approximately six hours. She still felt like she could sleep for days, but there was something more pressing that she wanted.


Rogue dropped the silk sheet and sat on the bed with her back to the bathroom. It almost took more nerve than she had. She stiffened her spine and waited. Presently, she heard soft footsteps behind her, and goosebumps rose on her skin with anticipation. She felt the mattress dip behind her with added weight and Remy settled himself behind her. His long legs stretched out on either side of her hips and his arms wound around her torso. She closed her eyes and leaned back into his embrace. He held her tightly and comfortingly. His hands remained on her shoulders, and he rocked her with a gentle rhythm like he would a small child.


"Ah'm sorry, Remy." She said, letting her shoulders sag. "Ah don't know why Ah let him touch me at first."


"S'only natural." He said, feeling his homicidal urge rise to the front of his thoughts. "You'd neva been touched like dat, or kissed."


"Ah didn't let him kiss me on the lips." She said, turning in his arms. "Ah wouldn't let him do that." She felt a few tears start to fall and dropped her chin to her chest. "When Ah was dreamin' Ah thought he was you and Ah didn't want to wake up."


"Let Gambit take away de memory, Chere." He felt her hesitation for the briefest of moments before she tilted her face upward and offered him her lips.


Remy didn't hold anything back from her. He crushed her mouth beneath his and turned her in his arms. Her skin was smooth and perfect beneath his callused fingers. He pressed her back onto his mattress and slipped his tongue between her lips, tasting her, for the first time, like honey on his tongue. She returned his fervor, but he could tell she felt awkward and inexperienced. He took the lead and moved his mouth to the edge of her lips. He kissed the spot where he'd seen her first smile emerge, and trailed his tongue down her jaw. She was alive beneath him, trembling with raw energy. He brushed her firm breasts with his hands and felt her arch in response.


"God, Remy, let me feel you." She whispered in a voice filled with a special kind of agony. He opened his mind and she felt the rush of emotions that he shared. She let out a small cry at the taste he gave her.


"Gonna make you feel real good." He said hoarsely. He moved his lips to her breasts and sucked on one of her nipples, making her arch up toward him, then he ran his tongue around it and released it. Her skin was already flushed as he moved to the other to give it the same treatment. He took his time; worshipping her body, adoring it and making it come alive.


Rogue felt like she was burning with fever. Her skin was a living thing with a mind of its own; it was like a sleeping dragon that had suddenly been awakened. Remy wasn't rough with her, it would have been painful for her sensitive flesh, but he was intent in his purpose. When his hair tickled the valley beneath her breasts, and she felt his breath on her belly, she suddenly felt a little nervous. She'd washed in the bathroom, but she was still self-conscious. This territory was completely new to her.


"Are you sure, you want to…uh." Rogue stopped when Remy's lips pressed below her navel and she felt him smile and chuckle against her. His hands left her breasts and she automatically reached above her head to grasp the headboard tightly. His fingers probed her moist opening gently. Then she felt his breath, cool against her warm skin, then he was on her.
Rogue was unable to draw breath into her lungs for a few, heart-stopping moments. Remy's mouth was on her and his tongue was doing things she'd only seen in Bobby's dirty movies. She stuffed a fist into her mouth to muffle the screams that tore from her throat. Her thighs quivered and her hips bucked under the onslaught of lips, tongue and fingers that were invading her, intimately. The orgasm hit her like a burst from a fire hydrant. She screamed his name and clamped her thighs around his head. Her torso came up off the mattress and she gasped like a fish out of water before slumping, bonelessly back onto the blankets