Jean didn't see Logan for three days. The next time she saw him, he was coming down the steps of the Blackbird, heavily supported by Gambit. His side was bandaged, his uniform was in tatters and covered with blood. Whether it was his or someone else's, Jean had no way of knowing.

"Logan! What in the world happened?"

"Oh, nothing the ol' mutant healing factor can't take care of. Ya sure are a sight for sore eyes, Red."

Jean leaned over and kissed him.

Gambit made a face at her. "Please, no' in front of the petite!"

Jubilee, who was circling in the background, just stuck her tongue out at him. Just about everyone, including the Professor, was present to meet the returning team, and depending on who knew what, they either smiled or gawked at Jean and Logan.

"Well," Logan drawled slowly, "I guess me an' Jean have an announcement to make."

The news was received positively by everyone, including Jubilee, who even gave Jean a big hug.

"You better take good care of my Wolvie!" she warned.

"I hate to break up the party," Logan sighed tiredly, "but I want a shower, a sandwich, and some sleep, in that order."

It was sometime the next day when Logan finally awakened. His mutant healing factor had no problem healing his wounds, but it had left him feeling weak and tired. He was hungry again and he was anxious to see Jean.

He heard a faint knock at his door and he heard her voice in his mind. "Come on in, darlin'," he called out to her. She opened the door and came in with a breakfast tray.

"I love having a telepath around. Breakfast and Jeannie; what more could I ask for?" he grinned at her.

"Just don't get too used to it," she warned. "Because I'm not serving you breakfast in bed every morning."

"Well, you're no fun," he mumbled with his mouth full of eggs. He swallowed. "Thank you, Jean. This is very nice." He took another bite. "So when are you going to let me make an honest woman out of you?"

"Any time you want," she answered. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather have a small wedding, just the X-MEN and maybe a few friends and family. I don't want a big extravaganza like last time. I...hope you understand. I want this to be different."

"I don't go in for big parties myself," he said understanding her perfectly. She didn't want a wedding like the one she'd had when she married Scott. That made him glad.

"And I'd like to do it as soon as possible. Scott and I...We wasted so much of our time together. I don't want to do that with you."

"We won't," he reassured her. "So where do you want to go for your honeymoon? You know I've got some money; I can take you anywhere you want to go."

"Actually," she said shyly, "I want to go camping."

"What, are you serious?" he asked incredulously.

She nodded. "I'm tired of being cooped up inside all the time. I'd like to go to the mountains and see all the fall colors."

"You've got a deal," he said, thinking he'd lucked out in more than one respect. "What's it take, three days to get all the paperwork straightened out?"

Jean nodded.

"That'll make it Wednesday or Thursday. What if we put something together for next Sunday and then take that whole week and maybe the next...Are you gonna be done with your monthly thing by next weekend?" he asked matter-of-factly.

"How did you know?" she asked incredulously, her face flushing.

"Darlin', I can tell when every woman in this house is having their period. No offense, but you all smell different."

"None taken, I'm sure," Jean said, pretending to be deeply offended. "Next weekend should be fine."

"Well, at least we know we didn't make any kids the other night, which we probably ought to talk about," he said pushing the tray away. "I wouldn't mind being a father some day, but I'd rather give it some time."

"That's just how I feel," Jean said. "Don't worry. Fortunately, I never quit takin those cute little pills."

The walk to the hot spring was just a little over two miles, but to Logan and Jean it was definitely going to be worth it. They were both in desperate need of bathing after two days of hiking, camping, and lovemaking. It was an unseasonably warm evening, and a gentle breeze was blowing.

Logan inhaled deeply taking in all the scents of the woods. It smelled good to him. It smelled like home, although the air was much too warm. His keen senses picked up on every sound, the rustling of the leaves and the scurrying of the wild animals as he and Jean made their way down the overgrown path. He was feeling very alive and rather wild tonight. His thoughts kept returning to his earliest memories of running in the forest, what good times he had had, how free he had been. He almost felt like that now, except for the shorts he was wearing and the pack of clothes he was carrying. And, of course, Jean was there.

All those years of running around in the woods, living with the animals had been great, except for one thing. When he was young, he had watched the animals as they mated and bore young with longing and desire. In his those days, there had never been anyone like him; All the other male animals attracted and won over their mates, but there was never anyone for him. Despite all his other memory losses, he remembered that feeling quite plainly, and for some reason the smells and sounds of this forest were bringing that feeling back to him.

Jean had been unusually quiet all the way there. She was tired and was thinking about how good a warm hot spring bath was going to feel. But she was also feeling a little playful. When they reached the water's edge, she waited until Logan stopped to undress; then she wandered off a few feet, turned her back to him, and started to do an exaggerated strip tease act. She slowly pulled her t-shirt off, arching her back and turning just slightly to reveal one of her perfect breasts. She then took off each boot and sock as slowly and provocatively as she could, and then finally shimmied out of her shorts and undies, bending over slightly to expose her firm, rounded behind.

Before she had time to turn around to check Logan's reaction, she felt one heavily-muscled arm grab her around the waist, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She had forgotten Logan could move that fast. She felt his other arm slip around her front, just below her collarbone. He had a tight grip on her, almost too tight of a grip; she could barely breathe, let alone move. He began licking and kissing her neck and shoulders quite aggressively. He was totally naked, definitely had an erection, and he was pushing it hard against her smooth, firm buttocks.

At first, Jean was a little startled and then very excited. But his fierce grip on her arms was actually starting to hurt, and her neck was becoming very tender from his pointed teeth raking against it. Jean wasn't sure how Logan was going to react to her little display, but she wasn't quite sure this was the response she had been after.

Logan, meanwhile had completely taken leave of his senses and was operating on sheer instinct alone. Suddenly, he pushed Jean to her knees and then forward onto her stomach on the ground, effectively pinning her arms beneath her. He quickly forced her legs apart with his knee and she had no doubt what was coming next.

Although his kisses had aroused her, Jean was far from ready, and she cried out, but she didn't resist him. He proceeded to pound against her with swift, powerful strokes and Jean was afraid he was going to push her right into the ground. She wondered what the hell was wrong with him; the other two nights they had spent together that week had been much like their first night together--passionate, but definitely not violent. Now, however, Logan wasn't being any too civilized or gentle about what he was doing, and Jean almost felt like she had no control over the situation.

As soon as she could gather her wits about her, Jean forced her mind into his chaotic thoughts. Logan was oblivious to her intrusion; Jean was overwhelmed by one word racing through his mind--"Mine!"

His thought patterns were filled by an unfathomable need to possess her; he had finally found the mate he had sought for. Now he had to take her before someone else did; had to show that she was the one he had chosen.

Jean understood that this was something part of his psyche needed; something beyond his control. She could have easily put an end to his behavior telepathically or telekinetically, but she decided against it.

She realized that he really didn't mean to hurt her, and probably didn't even realize that he was. She had to admit that despite her discomfort, his raw passion excited her. She was actually starting to relax and a few moments later she actually climaxed, but her flesh was fast becoming raw and sore.

Logan ejaculated several times, but his penis remained just as stiff as before and he showed no signs of stopping his assault on her. Soon Jean began to feel more than slightly uncomfortable. She could hardly breathe with Logan's weight on her; her arm was twisted awkwardly underneath her, and she hadn't exactly landed in a soft spot. There were rocks, twigs, and all kinds of prickly objects underneath her, and she could feel a insect bite forming near her navel. Her hair had fallen in front of her face, so that even if she could have raised her head up, she wouldn't have been able to see a thing. And she was quite sure she wasn't going to be able to sit down for at least a week.

Luckily, minutes later a rather large doe jumped nearby, skittishly thrashing through the fallen leaves. She could barely hear it herself, but Logan's keen senses picked up on it immediately and he snapped out of his trance. He suddenly released her and sat up.

Jean rolled over with a groan, wiping her matted hair from her eyes. Her face was dirty and she was scraped and bruised from being forced against the uneven ground. And she was shivering uncontrollably. As she slowly started to sit up, Logan realized the full extent of what had happened. He had lost it; the "animal" part of him had taken control, and this is what it had done--what he had done--to his beloved Jeannie.

He could barely look her in the face, but she was sitting there shivering like she was waiting for him to say something. What could he say? He buried his face in his hands.

"God, Jean, I'm sorry," was all he could manage. He was sorry, but most of all he was angry because he had broken his promise to her. He had told her he would never hurt her, and less than two weeks later he had gone back on his word.

"I'm okay, Logan. I'm just tired and cold and I want that bath, okay?" she said quietly as she stood up and started toward the water. He followed her, warily. She seemed more exhausted than angry, but still, she didn't speak as she stepped into the warm water and proceeded to wash.

The water felt good, but Logan kept his distance from her and also said nothing. He was too busy mentally chastising himself for what he had allowed to happen. He was not that animal, he told himself. It was only part of him, a part that he thought he had gotten under control, but which had apparently come back to haunt him at the worst possible time.

Back at the campsite, they still didn't talk much. Jean was ready to crawl in the sleeping bag, but Logan made some excuse about doing something to the fire. A few hours later, Jean woke up and realized he still had not come to bed. She sat up and could see him sitting on a large rock by the fire, sipping the last of the coffee from the thermos. The breeze had picked up considerably during the night and Jean slipped on some sweats and added one of Logan's flannel shirts over her own before venturing outside.

He wasn't surprised to see her; he had heard her stirring in the tent.

"Are you going to come to bed?" she asked quietly, standing over him. He took the last sip of coffee and looked up at her.

"Don't know whether or not I should," he said, screwing the cup back on the thermos. Jean didn't have to be a telepath to know he was upset; she could feel his emotions hanging in the air like a thick smoke.

She sat down, intertwining both her arms around him. He didn't make any move towards her.

"I never meant to hurt ya, Jeannie," he said quietly, staring into the fire. "And I can't tell ya how sorry I am it happened."

"I know," she answered, soothingly. "I'm not angry with you. I know who you are and I love you."

"But I hurt you. And I coulda hurt you a lot worse. How am I gonna trust myself around you? How can you trust me?" He angrily spat the words. He didn't want to think about her being hurt at all, least of all by him.

"Did you ever stop to think that I could have stopped you at any time?" she asked matter-of-factly.

He had to admit he hadn't.

"I let you do what you needed to do. I have to admit I'm a little sore and tired, but it wasn't so bad," she smiled. "I'm not as fragile as you think, Logan. Really. Now come on and come to bed. I'm freezing."

They climbed into the sleeping bag with their clothes on and Jean snuggled up against him and promptly fell asleep. Logan laid there for the rest of the night, thinking.

They got up early and started packing up the camping equipment. Logan was still angry at himself and quiet, but Jean seemed to be in a good mood and acted as though nothing was different between them.

They had planned to move to a different part of the park, but Logan sniffed the air and announced it was going to rain. Although they wouldn't complain if they hadto do it, neither Jean nor Logan relished the thought of sitting in a two-man tent in the rain for any length of time, especially now that the air had turned colder. They decided instead to head back toward the Jeep, and drive into one of the nearby towns to find a hotel and a some good food.

Late that afternoon they found a small inn that just happened to have a "honeymoon suite", complete with fireplace, Jacuzzi tub, and room service. Eating was definitely first on the agenda, and they both enjoyed a non-campfire cooked dinner.

Logan had just settled into the tub and lit a cigar when Jean came into the bathroom with a bottle of champagne. She had already undressed and was wearing a very sexy bathrobe which didn't leave much to the imagination. She had her hair pinned up on top of her head, but wisps of it were already starting to work their way loose down around her face.

"I was beginning to wonder what was keepin' ya, darlin'," he drawled, smiling at her.

"Well," she said with a slightly wicked grin, "I wasn't sure if I really wanted to come in here considering what happened last time I tried to take a bath with you."

His smile faded. "That ain't very damn funny, Jean," he said, turning away to crush the end of the cigar into the ashtray resting precariously on the corner of the tub.

"If you think you owe me an apology, then I accept it," she said, turning slightly as she let the robe slip from her shoulders. Yep, definitely a natural redhead, he thought as she slid into the tub across from him.

Logan's desire for her was overshadowed by his memories of the previous night. Guilt was not a feeling he was used to dealing with. He usually separated issues in his mind into clear-cut black or white, which usually helped in eliminating any later musings or misgivings. This was different, however.

He wanted to make things up to Jean, and he wanted desperately to hold her like he had the first night, but he wondered how he was going to be able to do that without feeling like a total hypocrite.

"I think I owe ya more than an apology, Jeannie," he finally said at last.

"You don't owe me anything, Logan," she said, smiling reassuringly at him. "However, there is something I would like to do for you, if you'll let me."

He raised an eyebrow at her in a question.

"What's that?" he asked suspiciously.

"Just sit back and relax," she said soothingly.

"Darlin', this is as relaxed as I get sittin' in a Jacuzzi tub with a beautiful naked woman," he said, gaping at her unapologetically.

Jean was a little nervous about what she had planned, but she smiled at the compliment. He didn't look too bad himself, she thought. The water made his plentiful body hair look darker and curlier. His sculpted muscles both complimented and contrasted with his short, stocky build. But she had to admit what she found most attractive was his eyes and his hair.

His hair was a beautiful blue-black color. It was course and thick, and extremely unruly, but it was also very soft to the touch. And it was getting long again, she noticed. She knew he cut his hair constantly, but the mutant healing factor just kept growing it back as quickly as ever each time.

His eyes, though, were her favorite thing. She wondered if she liked them so much because she had never been able to look into Scott's eyes because of his inability to control his optic blasts. She thought maybe Logan's eyes truly were the window to his soul. There was no lack of sincerity there, no games to play. With him what you saw was definitely what you got.

She concentrated on his eyes as she moved into his thoughts, into his mind. She went past the superficial, past the blocked memories, deeper than she had ever dared to go. Pain. Searing red-hot pain unlike anything she had ever felt or experienced before.

No! screamed Logan's conscious mind. Don't go in there!

Trust me, the calm voice of her mind echoed in his.

Trust her! He thought it more likely that he should killher for what she was doing to his mind. She was ripping and tearing and twisting his brain completely inside out. He was totally lost inside his rage and pain when he felt it, like a cool, soothing salve seeping down over his soul. He embraced it. It was only a tiny thread which couldn't begin to cover its intended target, yet it was healing for a part of him he had thought could never be healed.

Don't leave, his mind cried out at he felt her presence slowly retreating. He blinked and shook his head to clear it and realized that sometime during all this Jean had climbed onto his lap and that her head was rolling against his shoulder. He realized then that she had probably fainted, which didn't surprise him considering the mental gymnastics she had just pulled off. She was breathing evenly, however, and he was sure that she was only physically exhausted, an unfortunate side effect that seemed to accompany her TP/TK powers.

He held her there in his arms until he noticed the goosebumps forming on her skin. She had begun to toss her head and mumble a few minutes before, and he decided to try to rouse her.

"Jeannie," he said quietly, shaking her shoulders gently.

"Huh?" she murmured, her eyelids fluttering. She wasn't quite alert.

"Listen, darlin', we gotta get outta this tub before we turn into a couple o' prunes."

"Okay," she said, her speech definitely slurred. She made an effort to get up, but didn't go anywhere.

Logan got her out of the tub, wrapped her up in one of the plush, oversized towels, and and carried her toward the bed.

"Carrying me over the threshold?" she joked weakly. She was looking slightly better, he decided.

They ditched the towels snuggled up together under the voluminous comforter. Logan looked across the pillow at Jean. "That was a really nice thing ya did back there, Jeannie."

"It wasn't anything, really," she sighed softly. "I just wanted to see if I could take away some of the hurt you're carrying around inside." She moved closer and kissed him, and then kissed him again, longer and more passionately.

"Guess you're feelin' better," he said between breaths.

"Not as good as you're going to," she said with a wicked laugh. She ran her fingers lightly down his stomach and and began caressing his already hard penis, eliciting a small growl of pleasure from him.

"I want you," she breathed heavily. "Please--like the first night."

"Darlin', you got me," he grinned, more than willing to accommodate her.

He kissed her and touched her as gently and tenderly as he'd ever been and moved inside her as slowly as he could, although he had to grit his teeth more than once to maintain control. In the end, however, it was Jean who was begging for it harder and faster, and he lost it within a matter of minutes.

I guess mutant healing factors are good for somethin', he thought as he continued without interruption until he heard her cries of ecstasy and felt her nails digging into his back.

That was great, her voice said inside his mind. Can we do it again?

I've died and gone to heaven, Logan thought as he rolled over and pulled her on top of him.

It was a dark and stormy night if she'd ever seen one, Jean thought as she tossed and turned yet another time. Her psi-senses were on red-alert and every inch of her hair seemed to be standing on end. She was sensitive to the changes in the astral plane and she wasn't sure what was going on tonight, but she knew something was definitely in the air.

A foot across the bed, Logan was snoring peacefully. She envied his ability to sleep through the wind and rain, but she was glad for his presence. She really needed to sleep, she told herself. The past few months since she had rejoined the X-team had been particularly turbulent and she knew that every one of them was exhausted.

There was a brilliant flash of lightning followed by the deafening roar of thunder and Jean felt the room tilt slightly. An earthquake? she thought. Surely not in Westchester County. Suddenly her head was full of voices, one of them clearer than the rest.

"I'm just going down to the Danger Room. I'll be back in an hour. Love you." Jean felt an icy chill run through her as she heard his long-still voice in her head. It was simply impossible, she told herself. Still, she couldn't stop herself. Scott? she called out with her mind.

What's the matter, honey? came the response, as clear as a bell. The room tilted again and Jean bolted upright with a huge gasp. "Oh, my god," she breathed over and over.

Logan jerked and was out of the bed in a second, ready for anything. Finding no obvious threat, he quickly retracted his claws and climbed back in the bed next to Jean, who was still hyper-ventilating.

"What was it, darlin'? Another nightmare?"

She shook her head. "It was Scott. He was here. I heard his voice in my head."

"Sssh, darlin'. It's okay. It was just a dream," he said, putting his arms around her.

"No, Logan," she said icily. "I was wide awake."

"We've all been workin' too hard. It's no wonder our minds are startin' to play tricks on us."

"I'm telling you, I did not imagine it!" After a few minutes she gave up. Logan simply did not believe her, and she wasn't sure she would have either had their positions been reversed. By the next morning, she wasn't sure her mind hadn't been playing tricks on her.