Part 2

"Thank you," she said as she handed him his damp shirt.

"Don't mention it," he mumbled, grabbing his towel and hitching it around his hips like a toga over his sopping wet shorts. "Aren't ya gonna… stupid question…"

She accepted the other towel he tossed her, and saw he was trying NOT to look at her soaking wet robe that was clinging to her body and leaving little to the imagination. At least they were rounding the mansion to get out of sight, and she followed him to a side entrance. While she wouldn't have minded, she knew the Professor would give her another lecture about being 'modest'.

"Stupid flamin…"

"Wolverine, thank you for your rescue… and saving Pyoter further embarrassment."

"Told ya before, don't mention it," he shrugged.

"IT was sweet of you."

"I've been called lots a things an' sweet ain't one of 'em babe," he returned, shrugging off her comment.

"Well I won't tell, I don’t' want to ruin your reputation as a tough guy,"

"Do me a favor princess an' DON'T call me that," he grumbled.

"I'm sorry… I didn't…"

"No apologies needed. Jesus ya don't have to be so flamin' polite!"

"Excuse the hell me," she mumbled. Logan forgot his mood and burst out laughing.

"Oh that's a nice one… do my ears deceive me or did ya just SWEAR?"

"First time for everything, Wolverine," she shrugged with an impish look on her regal face. "But I have a question…"

"Shoot," he shrugged, opening the side door for her. They scurried up the stairs quietly, entering the dormitory.

"Were you joking when you said your skeleton contained 6 million dollars of some metal… adamantium?"

"Do I LOOK like I'd joke about that?" he asked sternly.

"No, I want to know, since you entrusted me with that private fact," she whispered.

"Well, it ain't THAT top secret," he mumbled.

"That's why you don't swim much because… and still you…"

"Yep," Logan said, reaching into his shorts pockets, and then cursing as he dragged out a twisted wet lump of tobacco that had been his remaining cigar. "Damn figures."

"None of my business," she said quickly.

"Well, since I bothered to tell ya," he said.

"Well not everyone knows everything about ME, either," Ororo said quietly. She noticed he was leading the way, and wondered if he was going to disappear into his private room, and become his usual hermit self.

"All of us got our dirty secrets, 'Roro," he said, and she smiled at the nickname he'd given her. She didn't question it, rather accepted it as a matter of him getting used to her as a teammate.

"And thank you again for sharing your breath," she whispered in his ear. He turned and glanced at her beneath the brim of his hat, his expression momentarily unreadable.

"My pleasure," he said.

"Mine as well," Ororo answered, and he raised an eyebrow at this.

"Just helpin' a friend…"

"And it was most appreciated, as it was before… although those were more dangerous circumstances than merely protecting my… 'virtue' as you called it," Ororo answered, meeting that gleam in his eyes with a devil may care attitude. Still her robe clung to her body, giving him a relatively good look at what she knew he'd already seen.

"Didn't realize ya remembered THAT," he mumbled, shoving his hands into his shorts pockets. Was that a blush on his cheeks?

"I figured you, the private sort would expect me to do so. Considering I was the sole witness. The maiden in distress you rescued…"

"You in distress?" he burst out laughing. "Can't imagine YOU needing rescuing…"

"Even when I was a flaky broad?" she asked.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Shoulda known better…"

"Apology accepted," she said, and kissed his cheek. Logan inhaled her breath, and shivered at the contact of her lips. They were every bit as soft, and inviting, and it was awfully hard not to turn around and just…

Arms around his neck, pressing her chin into his shoulder, and pressing her warm wetness into his back. She towered over him and yet her chin fit perfectly into the groove of his shoulder. With a warm female pressed so close, he was getting rather uncomfortable, and his nose was telling her she was halfway between platonic and mild flirting. Glancing sidelong, and smelling nobody anywhere nearby, he tossed his cigar into a trashcan near by and cleared his throat.

He turned around, and Ororo was face to face with him. Up close she got a good view of his face, which she hadn't seen for the first time till after their first mission, without its mask. A look of amusement curved her lips slightly, and he noticed how unusually blue her eyes were. Very unusual for an African woman, and indicative of her mutation. In turn his eyes were an intense predatory brown, somewhere between human and something wild. Yet holding intelligence and a keen sense of all around him. Ororo's gaze locked with his, and she allowed him to press her gently to the wall with the weight of his shorter and more massive body. As her chest pressed to his, the water soaked through from her body and robe to drench his shirt and shorts. Grabbing his hat, he tossed it off, and turned his face as she watched what he'd do next. She kept her eyes open in shock and surprise as her mouth was covered with his, and it dimly registered he was kissing her.

The first thing she was aware of was the taste. Not unpleasant, and the pressure of his lips was a balance between hunger and restraint. At first she thought he was going to grope and paw her, but he didn't. Rather he rested his hand flat alongside her head, and braced his weight off while his other arm snaked around her waist, avoiding any territory that would tempt a normal man. Storm closed her eyes, and hoped he would continue, willing her body to relax. Whatever he was doing, she liked it, and knew that if he got out of line, she could easily defend herself.

Quickly she brought up her hands, sliding them up his back and grabbing his neck, should he loose the nerve and pull away. Logan felt her body responding, and was rather surprised that his initial sense was confirmed. Her stiffness melted, and he realized she had few intimate experiences next to this, but was not unaccustomed to the concept of a simple kiss.

He released her, and put a bit of distance as he cupped her chin with a rough finger, his eyes still burning into hers. Storm gave a slight smile, to encourage him he had not been unwelcome, and yet question if he was going to steal another. He started to pull back, and Storm grabbed his neck, and slid her hand at the small of his back, leaning heavily into him as she clumsily tried to capture his mouth as he had done.

Logan let the towel drop from around his waist, and crushed her to him, encouraged that she was showing the initiative. Not questioning, just feeling, the kiss intensified, and she fell against the wall, pressed there by his body. He made no move to grope her still, and that surprised Storm, but simply was enjoying experimenting with his lips moving over hers, and then thrusting his tongue into her mouth to see how she'd react to that.

Then inevitably he tensed and pulled back out of her arms. Sheepishly he muttered, "Sorry, someone comin'…" and backed away.

"Wolverine… it's all right I…" she got out before he had slipped away, leaving here there flustered and hot and hungry for more. Wondering if he really HAD kissed her or it had been some dream.

However she leaned down and picked up his discarded cowboy hat and made to follow, before she saw Kurt and Pyoter walking down the hallway. "Storm, there you are…" they said, and then stopped.

"Um…are you… all right?" Pyoter asked.

"I'm quite well, actually… little brother," she blurted out, fiddling with the hat that she'd picked up. "Wolverine dropped this… I was about to give it back to him…"

"Want one of us to go with you lest he…"

"That's not funny, Peter, he's not the big bad wolf," Kurt jabbed him in the ribs. "Remember he DID buy us both a round of beer at Harry's…"

"Excuse me," Storm said, walking quickly to Logan's room with his hat bouncing off one hand. She raised her fist to knock, wondering if she should wait, or try later. Sighing, she realized that the last thing he needed was to be approached before he was ready. Shrugging, she lowered her hand and walked towards the ladder that led to her garret.

Once up in the cool shade of her room, she turned. Proudstar had sneaked up here as easily, and since he was one of the few that were so daring, she knew that it must be someone else. A smile crossed her face, and she wondered if he knew she was aware of his existence.

"You can come out of hiding, I don't bite," she said clearly. "I rarely have visitors…"

There was no answer, but Ororo kept her back turned, knowing she wanted to draw whomever it was playing this game out into the open. Moving quietly she picked up a watering can and started to talk to her plants. Playing completely innocent, yet keeping keenly alert of her surroundings.

So when she sensed a presence behind her, she turned quickly and grasped the hand that had reached out to clasp over her mouth. Not even stopping to ask who or what, she pushed the body forwards, and cracked the whip. Something solid and hard was pinned there by the weight of her body, but did not struggle.

"Not bad," Wolverine grunted as she twisted his arm behind him and shoved him against the wall.

"I knew you were there, as you have guessed," she said.

"Wanted to see if you were able t' defend yerself without your powers. Guess I was right…"

"I have many secrets, as you doubtless have seen," Storm said, releasing him and backing away. "What I want to know is why you ran away from me? Were you ashamed to be seen in my presence?"

"Pardon me, oh great an' wonderful goddess," he mumbled.

"You forgot this," she said, tossing his hat at him, and he caught it easily.

"Pretty confidant of yerself now, aren't ya?" he asked.

"So, you go from kissing me to insulting me? That's interesting," Storm said, pacing a half circle around him.

"An yer goin' from braggin' to psychoanalyzing," he answered.

"What DO you want, Wolverine?" she asked. "Or is this merely some… joke, or test of a teammate's skills that I wasn't aware of?"

"Ain't no joke, 'Roro. Just a friendly kiss…" he muttered. "An' I figured you'd have my hat, an wanna give it back. But ya didn't have the nerve t' knock on my door so I came up here instead…"

"I wanted to respect your privacy, and here you invade mine," she said, waiting for his response.

"There ya go again, bein' all overconsiderate. Ever occur to ya you don't need to be so damn polite? Just accept some things as they are… instead of trying to always be in control."

"What brought this on?"

"Nothing, just an observation," he shrugged, glancing around her room. "Nice digs. You some kinda horticulturist?"

"These are my friends, who share my space. I would figure you would appreciate my love of nature and desire to recreate it here…"

"How much ya figure out about me? You been drawin' straws to see if you can figure the runt out?"

"You have said it, not me. I did not slip into YOUR room, unobtrusively… and I did not run away after building up the nerve to steal a kiss… why do you feel the need to be so damn paranoid when all we desire is your friendship…"

"World ain't such a pretty place, 'Roro… it's ugly… not the paradise you come from."

"You have no idea what you're talking about, wolverine. You have as little right to judge ME, as I do you. And I'm not some foolish innocent native who doesn't know how white man's world works… I've seen my share of it… thank you very much."

"Pickin' locks?"

"Yes. The best street thief in all of Cairo, in my day," she said. "Are you so shocked to see the goddess is a human being, no better or worse than yourself? Why is my every attempt to understand seen as an invasion, and my attempts to be polite and friendly rebuffed?"

"Cause you don't need to be anyone but yourself round me, 'Roro. Don't care if you're goddess or a green skinned woman from Orion, yer a teammate. An' I just figured I'd let ya know that sometimes you worry too damn much about appearances. An' about pleasing other people. When ya should be focusing on being yourself. You don't haveta get people to like ya an' worship ya just so you can work with 'em…"

"Strange you should be so concerned about such things," she snorted.

"I'm just a friend, like ya said. An' I'm tryin' to help ya out," he shrugged. "Like Jeannie's helpin' me out. You were pretty surprised when I wanted to join ya swimming. And surprised when I did all the other things this afternoon. Shows me that you had some preconceived notion that was just shattered to pieces… an' yer not sure of how to accept it…"

"And this is all for my benefit how?" she asked.

"Just lettin' ya in, since you let ME in," he said quietly. "Tryin' to get to know ya as a friend. Even though I ain't exactly Mr. Sunshine… an I don't trust anybody easily…"

"Strange. You said that you didn't trust ANYONE when you first started…"

"Elf an' me are buddies. Even Petey Pure-heart. An' I guess yer a friend too, seein' as we all work together in this dump. An' since we got started on the wrong foot… I figured I'd get to know ya…"

"Like you did when you challenged Kurt to walk down MAIN Street without his image inducer?" she asked.

"Pretty much," he chuckled. She saw a rare smile, which faded just as suddenly as it appeared.

"But I want to know why…" Storm asked, eyes darkening in confusion a few shades.

"Why what?" Wolverine asked, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the wall.

"Why steal a kiss, and then just leave?" she asked.

"Maybe I just felt like it at the moment?"

"If you think you somehow embarrassed me, You had nothing to be ashamed of… and I rather enjoyed it… if I HAD been displeased, you could not have continued," Storm said as she walked forwards, and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Maybe I figured it was too good to ruin… cause we work together… an' seeing as yer a friend and teammate… giving into the urge to kiss a pretty woman ain't always a good idea…"

"Am I really pretty?"

"Yep," Logan nodded. "A really nice piece… I mean like a really fine work a' art like… that you just enjoy lookin' at over an' over again cause ya can't take yer eyes off it."

Ororo smiled charmingly, feeling the glow seep over her. "Thank you wolverine, for the compliment," she smiled sweetly, and he was suddenly swept up in her embrace and a soft kiss. She ran her hands up and down his back, and enjoyed the physical closeness of him. Aw what the hell, he figured, and returned it.

"An for the record, just between you an me, and don't tell anyone ELSE this, the name's Logan…"

"Hmm, seems a perfectly FINE name," she murmured. "But if you wish me to keep it to myself… I shall. Though Goddess knows why?"

He only answered with another kiss, erasing her curiosity about his secrecy as he slid his hand down her back, and welcomed her caress. Feeling the vibration of his throat as she felt his moan of satisfaction, and the tension in his body that suggested he was holding back his true nature.

"Mmm, I'm wonderin' why ya haven't flamin' tried to stop me yet," he murmured.

"Because perhaps I do not wish you to stop," she whispered as he kissed her throat.