Not too long ago these two items where on my dashboard.
I’m unsure of who to blame for the resulting fic so I will list them in alphabetic order. @avarip, @hurtslikeyourmouth, and @roguelotus They can hang their heads in shame at the resulting piece of fluff.
“This reminds me of when we first met,” Marie’s breath warmed his ear. It was a welcome reprieve from the cold.
“Darlin, you didn’t have it this easy back then,” Logan answered. He’d almost made the biggest mistake of his life that winter by attempting to leave her on the side of the road.
“You can put me down,” Rogue told him as he trudged on through the snow. The huge flakes had dissipated, and the wind was picking up, pushing already deep snow into drifts.
“Told you we’d make better time this way,” was his reply almost lost in the wind.
They had made better time with her piggyback because she’d struggled to keep up. She’d learned long ago to do a quick step to make up for his longer strides. However, with the added snow that hadn’t been possible. He’d insisted on carrying her the remaining distance, even though she was positive it was further than she’d walked.
The project at the Massachusetts Academy would have to wait until they could get the vehicle out of the snow. She’d tried to text them before they began this trek but there was no service, maybe she could call when they got to the inn. “Are you sure we’re still going the right direction?”
Logan had been in his share of snowstorms, a few blizzards too and knew better than to just keep walking. That was the best way to walk in circles and never get where you thought you were going. He’d stopped several times to gain his bearings and realign their path. They’d been headed for the last place they’d passed, a little inn on the main road.
“There’s a light up ahead,” he said to reassure her. No need to tell her he’d only now spotted it since the snow let up. It was only a pinpoint of light that he occasionally saw, but it was the heading he was using.
He’d started to worry that they should have stayed with the vehicle. This storm was something he shouldn’t have drug her out into, especially since he had no clear line of sight to their destination. Yet there was no telling how long before the road would be plowed and the vehicle freed.
Finally, his boot struck gravel, and he realized he’d found the driveway. The pinpoint of light turned out to be a candle in the window. The porch was drifted in and he swung Marie down on the steps, helping her up them. As their feet hit the porch itself the front door opened.
“We’d about given up hope,” said the dark-haired woman waving them in. “Robert, they made it.”
They stepped in and she closed the door behind them. “No bags? Did you have to walk the last bit?”
For a moment Rogue thought the Professor must have been alert to their situation and contacted the inn, but the woman put that notion to rest. “The power went out just after you called and we weren’t certain that you were even coming. Oh my, where are my manners? I’m Jackie, you must be Heidi and Jeff, we’ve talked on the phone.”
Jackie didn’t seem to breathe, “We can talk properly in the morning, I best show you to your room. Walking in the snow must have been tiring and cold. Robert started a fire in the room and it should be warm by now.”
Rogue tried to correct Jackie, but couldn’t get a word in edge wise. They simply followed her up a set of stairs to a room as she rambled on about the inn and the power hopefully being restored by breakfast. They didn’t see Robert, however, there was a fire burning merrily in the fireplace's grate.
Once again Rogue tried to correct the mistake of who they were to no avail. Logan shrugged as they were left alone. “I suppose it would be too confusing to ask for a separate room?” she asked holding her hands to the fire.
Logan had taken off his jacket and was in the process of pulling off his boots. “Go ahead, Heidi,” he answered with a smile.
With a huff, she turned to warm her backside. She didn’t suppose there was heat in any of the other rooms and he seemed perfectly content to stay in the same room.
“Better get your shoes off and your feet warmed up,” he told her as he joined her by the fire.
She was reluctant to take anything off. Even though the room was warmer than outside, she was still as cold as before. This confirmed what she’d known for a while. It would take quite some time for a girl from the South to properly acclimate to the long, cold winters. She also knew he was right about the shoes as her feet hadn’t even warmed a little.
Slipping off her shoes she put them close to the fireplace and wiggled her toes around to restore the feeling. He glanced at her then kneeled down and took one of her feet in his hands and began massaging it. After all that snow and cold, he had warm hands. It figured, his healing factor never stopped surprising her and tonight she didn’t mind taking advantage of it.
Logan switched to the other foot once he was certain the first one was no longer the block of ice it had been. At least she’d taken his advice before they’d started the trip and had worn some long johns. He could see the cuff at her ankle as he rubbed her foot, too bad she hadn’t put on the second pair of socks before they got out of the vehicle.
When he finished, he studied her a moment. “Give me your damp stuff and crawl into bed.”
He saw her eyes shift back and forth between the warm blaze and the blankets piled up on the bed. Sighing, she handed over her coat and then stripped down to her skin-tight long johns. Pulling over one of the wooden chairs to the fire, he arranged her clothes on it to dry while she scurried to the bed and climbed in. A quick glance at her made him smile. The only part of her sticking out of the bedding was her hair on the pillow above a balled-up lump of Marie.
Rogue could hear him undressing but didn’t dare stick her head out to look. At first, the room had felt warm after the blowing snow, but now it felt as if the bed was stealing what little warmth she had acquired. The bed dipped as he got under the covers on his side and she shivered at the thought of cold air making its way to her side.
She knew he wanted to tell her they should share their body heat. He also knew she’d refuse because… well, she didn’t have a good reason it just wasn’t part of their relationship. Being this close wasn’t something they’d discussed even though she was pretty sure they were on the same page where their feelings were concerned. They shared something deeper than friendship and both had been more than happy to leave it at that.
After twenty minutes of listening to her teeth chatter, Logan had had enough. Gently he pulled her over to him. He felt her stiffen a little, but she relaxed almost as quickly into him.
“My god, you’re…” she started then stammered the next part clearly not wanting to say it.
“Hot,” he offered. Tonight he wasn’t going to misconstrue her meaning. It was a side effect of his healing factor and he was more than happy to share the heat.
“This isn’t a good idea,” she said, her teeth no longer making noise.
A simple grunt sufficed as an answer. It wasn’t a bad idea as far as getting her warmed up was concerned but he knew what she meant. His heightened senses were already picking up on the change in her scent. Knowing her as he did, he knew she’d want to talk about it. He didn’t see the need to hash anything out; it was obvious how they both felt.
“Why haven’t we done this before?” she asked, cuddling into him.
“Do you want to get stuck in the snow more often?” he countered even though he knew exactly what she was talking about.
“You know what I mean, why haven’t we ever taken this step without the snowstorm?” She almost giggled as his chin scrapped against her shoulder. The shiver that went through her body, that had nothing to do with how cold she was, wasn’t as easy to suppress.
Tossing that thought around he said, “We’re both too stubborn to make the first move.” He knew he had been reluctant to change their relationship with his track record. As long as Marie hadn’t become frustrated with the status quo he’d been fine with staying in a holding pattern.
“Hmm… I think you’ve been scared?” Not that she wanted to admit it but fear of a commitment with Logan had held her back sometimes. She didn’t want to mess it up.
“Is that so?” he mumbled. She sighed in contentment as he breathed behind her ear, the heat making her skin prickle. He wasn’t of the mind to argue with her as long as she continued to let him touch her.
“Yep, cause I’m the best damn thing that ever happened to you,” she giggled as his hand slid across her stomach.
“That you are, Darlin’.” He started to turn her, but she stopped him with a hand on his.
When he raised up and quirked an eyebrow at her, she smiled. “You have to finish warming me up first, Jeff.” She made her point by burrowing deeper into his embrace.
He settled back down behind her. He’d waited this long, what was a few more minutes to him now. Marie was finally in his arms and that was all that mattered.
