(This story was set in motion with "Wolverine Confidential," where Logan and Katherine's affair began, complicated by her unusual mating aura. In "Wolverine's Desire," things became more complex for the lovers and in "Wolverine Gets A Little Upset," Logan had to unleash his warrior and the couple went on the run to avoid Katherine's persecutors. Now, in the conclusion, Katherine's aura takes a full grip on our hero, and moves the characters to the story's ending.)

≈≈≈

"What the fuck is that?" Logan said as he bolted from the bed, his weight driving the air from Katherine's lungs.

Snitk. Snitk.

She heard him un-sheave his claws as he stalked toward the door. The blue-white light streamed from the small cabin's living room, bleaching out the colors in the bedroom and turning Logan's form, the claws and coiled tension of his body, into a dark silhouette as he moved toward the door.

"Wait, Logan!" Katherine hissed as she scrambled from the tangle of sheets. Pushing up behind him, she steadied herself against his muscular backside and strained to look past him into the room.

"What the shit?" Logan muttered and straightened slightly, as Katherine peered around from under his arm. In the middle of the room, floating above the couch was a doll-size figure, transparent, shimmering and staring back at them with the same questioning gaze.

"Kath?" it said, crouching down itself to find Katherine behind Logan's bulk. "Is that you babesea? Good Zartha! Where are your clothes, girl?"

"It's okay," Katherine exhaled, and smoothed a hand up Logan's back as she straightened. "It's a hologram."

"A what?"

"It's my nurse, my nanny, phoning me. Hi Nana." She said around his arm and moved to Logan's side, allowing the image to see her fully.

"Well, child!" the image said, a miniature of an old woman, with gray hair pulled back from a kindly, wrinkled face. With her wise visage and sparkling eyes, she said, "So, it's true, you have taken a mate!" She chuckled and clapped her hands together. "And a great, beautiful male at that!" She looked Logan up and down and then smacked her lips. As he sheaved his claws, the old woman made a face and then grinned. "Zartha!"

"Nana! For heaven's sake," Katherine said in a pleading tone.

Logan looked over at Katherine and saw the color rise up her chest, the blush spreading over her breasts, neck and face. God, he wanted to kiss her, push into her again, the strange, beautiful witch, with more odd magic. Then he looked back at the old crone who smiled at him knowingly with raised eyebrows. Logan frowned back.

"Okay sweets, listen up. We don't have much time. Talon is after you-- both of you. Kath, he knows you've mated and he thinks you will soon produce a male heir."

"What!" Katherine blurted out.

"Don't be a ninny, girl," she scolded. "Now silence. I have to say this and get you two on your way."

Katherine looked up at Logan and found him staring at her with a peculiar expression. She frowned at him as Nana began again.

"Talon's following a prophecy that says 'The turquoise princess will rise in power, and with the son, bring the fall of the red house forever.' Talon has known this prophecy and believed in it ever since your were born. That is why he killed your parents, and why he exiled you here."

"Killed her parents?" Logan gritted out. He looked down at Katherine with a scowl, "What the hell!"

Katherine gazed back at him, then back to Nana. "This is crazy. I'm not involved in Talon's politics!" she protested.

"Talon never expected you to find a mate here." Nana drew a puzzled look, and stared at Logan up and down. "It's odd that you have. Well, be that as it may, you cannot escape your destiny. Nor can you, young man."

"I'm not that young," Logan said blandly.

"You look in your prime, boy. Try and keep it that way. She needs you." The image flickered and began to fade. "They track you through the aura but it takes time. Talon has his men stationed in this region, trying to secure a faster trap. Stay alert." The light flickered. "You must leave this place now, they'll be coming. Kath, my little choochee, I love you," she said and blew a kiss.

"I love..." Katherine began but her words were cut off as the image blinked, flickered and vanished, plunging the room back into the semi-darkness of the dawn.

Logan looked at the now empty space as his vision returned to normal, then turned to Katherine. She held her eyes forward, closed them and squeezed out tears. Then she gazed up at him with an anguished look.

"Darlin'," he said gently and rubbed her arm. "Time to go."

"Where are we going?"

"Why, to the deep, dark forest, little red riding hood."

≈≈

They had tromped through the woods, pushing hard up through the hill country that surrounded the cabin, up into the mountainside and through the forest until it was hard for Katherine to know where they were or from which way they had come. She followed Logan step-for-step, as they put distance between the cabin and wherever it was that he was leading them. She had broken into a light sweat, caused by the pace of their retreat, despite the cool of the day and the chill that still clung to the forest floor at times in their ascent. Logan stopped and lifted his head, sniffing the air. Then he turned to her and looked her up and down.

"You're gorgeous when you're exhausted and harried," he said as he cocked his head, reached over and extracted a twig from her tangled black hair.

"Why, thank you kind sir," she replied. "I bet you say that to all your girls." She pulled off her satchel, sat on the nearby log, and took out her water bottle.

"No, I only say that to the princesses," he said, now in a sober tone. He looked carefully at her as he sat down. "You could have given me a hint about that, Katherine," he said grimly, stretching out his long legs, and leaning back. "I'm a bit from the wrong side of the tracks for you, wouldn't you say?" Logan fixed his eyes on her. A fucking princess of all things—a magical, fucking, fairy princess. Jesus Christ! He lifted his chin a centimeter, a subtle challenge in his posture that he didn't understand himself.

"I'm not sure we're that different, Logan," she said as she gazed at him. "You can't really remember things, can you? And if you do, you can't be certain of them. Maybe you're a prince," she smiled at him, "or a Lord or something. Maybe you're a Samurai. Aren't they like Knights?" She shrugged as he scowled back at her. Then she lifted her chin. "Anyway, I warned you I wasn't normal," she said weakly, "when we... when we first..." She gave up.

"You did?" He looked at her meaningfully. "I must've been distracted."

Katherine blinked and pressed her lips together. Then she held out the water bottle. "Would you like a drink?"

"Only if you can change it into Jack Daniels."

"No," she said carefully, "but I can flavor it if you'd like."

"Oh, Jesus," he said as he twisted his lips and brought his hands up to his head, racking through his hair and turning to look out over the hillside.

"I'm sorry. I... I'm so sorry," she whispered miserably. "I didn't know about Talon's politics. I would have never...I would have never brought you into this." She blinked again and the tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Fuck Talon! He and his giant monkey-dogs don't scare me." He rubbed his face. "Shit. Let's just drop it." He clenched his jaw and looked at her. "Don't cry for Christ's sakes, please," he breathed out.

"Okay, okay," she said, wiping her cheeks, and forcing a smile.

"Flavor the damn water."

"Yes. All right. I can do that." She looked up and over her shoulder, locating the gentle afternoon light filtering through the deep forest canopy. A ray of sunlight shone diagonally in front of her and she raised the water bottle into the yellow beam. Logan stared at her. She smiled hesitantly at him and asked, "Lemon or lilac scent?"

"Lilac, of course." He watched her, narrowing his eyes, a question on his face. "What the hell else can you do, princess?"

"Not much, really. Just using sunlight." Holding the bottle in the ray of light, Katherine concentrated her gaze. The sunlight seemed to shimmer and glow, off and on, across her hand as she held the bottle. Then, a faint blue-green color grew, and Katherine frowned. "That's odd." She looked up at him and said, "That's never happened before." She cocked her head with a puzzled look, and then handed the bottle to him. Logan reached to take it, and the light and colors swam around her hand, and then sparked out toward his.

"Interesting," he muttered, watching her and tasting the water. "Damn, it does taste sweet and it smells good." He sniffed. "Like you," he said and leveled his eyes at her.

Katherine stared at Logan, her heart beginning to pound. She looked down at her hand, still stretched out toward him, and turned it over and back again. The blue-green color was swirling, stronger where she had touched his skin. She looked up at him as he drank, her attention focusing on the cords in his neck, the shadow of beard along his angular jaw and the hollow at his throat as he swallowed. She tried to draw her gaze away, but couldn't seem to, every sense becoming alert to him. God, he was amazingly handsome, she thought, taking a breath and biting her lip. His skin was moist with perspiration from the mild exertion, and his tee shirt gently molded to parts of his chest, his jeans hanging on his lean hips. He looked strong and fierce. She bit her bottom lip harder and raised her eyes from staring at his body, to find him looking back at her, bemused, one eyebrow raised.

"I'm... I'm sorry." She shook her head and muttered, "I didn't mean to gawk. I don't know what's wrong with me." Then she looked at him again and down at her hands, turning them over and watching the aura as it swirled around her skin and swam out toward Logan. "Oh, no," she whispered, seeing it grow on it's own, a turquoise mist surrounding her skin. Her body was tingling all over, as if she was being caressed. She looked up at him, her breathing becoming faster, her whole body tense, and her groin beginning to throb and ache. She gritted her teeth. "Do you feel it?" she asked, anxiously.

"Feel what, darlin'?" He squinted and cocked his head.

"The aura," she moaned and pitched her head back, arching her body slightly. "Oh God," she muttered, "What is happening to me?" Then, as if without her own volition, she placed her hands on her breasts and circled around the thin fabric of her dress, a low groan escaping from the back of her throat. As if some power was directing her, she pressed her hands down to the ache between her thighs. Horrified and yet aroused by her own actions, she said, "I feel you, somehow. I feel... Oh, God." Then she stepped to spread her legs and ran her hands over her mound, crinkling the dress up and between her legs and arching her pelvis forward. "Oh, God Logan, get away from me."

"What?" Logan watched as Katherine struck the most erotic pose he had ever seen, stroking up and down her hips and spreading her legs as if in an offering of raw sexuality: some exotic dance, her dress hiked up, exposing her lower body. He moistened his lips and watched her, his eyes narrowing as she began to undulate her body, little moans of desire escaping from her mouth. The turquoise aura swirled from her hands and seemed to highlight her breasts and hips, and glowed around the entrance to her body. He felt himself harden as he watched the display, flame catching fire in his belly, striking through his groin, and streaming out into his limbs. Bits of the aura, like sparks, jumped out from her body toward him. He clenched his teeth and blew out a long breath.

"Get away, Logan. I can't control this," she pleaded as she looked back at him, a mixture of anxiety and arousal on her face. Then she pulled the skirt of the dress up to her chest, held it there with one hand, and stroked her other hand down as she widened her stance. Logan watched, his breathing accelerating, as she moved her hand across her flat stomach, under the edge of her panties and between her legs, the dark patch of hair lightly visible behind the nylon. Then squatting slightly she pushed her hand lower, and arched her head back, letting out a harsh groan. Logan bit his lip as his groin tightened at the erotic sight. Then he watched as Katherine contracted her body in a pumping motion, the muscles of her bare thighs tensing as she pressed up and down, and circled her hips. The aura swirled, sparkling and expanding around her vagina, as she moaned and stroked herself.

"Come here, darlin'," Logan commanded in a hoarse voice through clenched teeth. Every part of his body was responding to the sight, his breathing escalating and a bolt of energy riveted through him and pooled in his groin. He reached toward her and the aura formed an arc between them, sending another thrill of pleasure straight to his erection, causing him to hitch a breath. Katherine brought her head forward and glared at him with a look of pure lust. She paused and panted out a breath, then launched herself at him. Closing the distance in two strides, she threw her arms around his neck and planted her mouth hard on his. Logan stumbled backward as he caught her and steadied them. Then, Katherine frantically grabbed the back of his head with both hands and pushed hard to bring his mouth more deeply onto hers, squirming herself against his crotch.

Logan knew he should stop, a small voice in some far reach of his mind said the words. She would be upset if they had to run again. But instead of backing away from her, he grabbed her firmly around the waist, lifted her body up further, and wrapped her legs around his groin. She circled her arms around his neck and panted in his ear. Christ, she was hot, he thought, as she ground and pumped herself against the erection under his jeans, her warm breath ringing against his ear. The small voice vanished from his mind as she moved her face to his cheek, and pushed her tongue in his ear, sending another thrill sizzling through him.

"Oh God, oh God," she muttered, feeling possessed by some otherworldly force. "Please stop me, please," she whimpered as she continued to push her body against his, her dress hitched up and the thin fabric of her underwear, wet with her arousal. She could feel the aura growing stronger with each movement and breath, and wherever she touched him felt like lightning bolts through her skin and into her core. "Oh God, this is too much, I can't stop," she said as she held the back of his head with one hand and brought her other hand to his chest. Stroking down his abdomen, she clung to him and pushed ryhmically against the ridge of his erection. "Please stop me."

"Darlin'," he muttered and fanned his hands around her waist. "I don't think I want to stop you," he whispered as he stepped backward and lodged himself against the trunk of a small tree.

Katherine felt as if her mind were fracturing. She couldn't force the rational thoughts to the surface, but only feel Logan, smell and taste him. Nothing else seemed to exist. She reveled in the tautness of his body, the rippling muscles of his chest, and the rough skin where she rubbed against his face. Every sense of him fired her blood. She worked at the fly of his jeans in fast, awkward motions, feeling desperate to have him inside of her. As she finally unhooked his jeans, she peeled them down and released his erection. Logan's hard shaft sprang out and Katherine grasped it in a moan of relief, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from Logan. Then she scrambled up his body, pushed his jeans lower, and inched her mouth against his ear.

"Fuck me, Logan. Fuck me, fuck me," she breathed and pleaded in his ear and tried to move his hard penis into place, frantically pushing against his body.

"You got it darlin'," he whispered back as her coarse words sent him reeling. He disengaged himself from the tree, swung them both around and lodged Katherine against the trunk. Then, holding her wedged there, he reached down and slipped his hand beneath her underwear, held it clear of her skin and extending a claw, sliced it free. Katherine let out a scream of pleasure and excitement, and wrapped herself directly against Logan. He took a deep breath as he felt her intimate skin folds, wet and slippery, sliding against his erection. She pressed her hips fully against him, pushing and stroking his shaft up and down on her wet skin. Then, she let go of his neck, reached up and wrapped her arms around two small limbs on either side of the tree.

"Now Logan, now, now," she muttered in desperate moans as she angled her hips for his penetration, pitching up slightly to spread herself more fully open for him.

Logan watched as Katherine arched, her arms spread out, tensed and grasping the tree as if she were some sacrifice, her face in a grimace of pleasure falling to one side, exposing her long, delicate neck as she moaned and encouraged him with her erotic words. His heart pounding in his chest, he brought his hands down to hold her around her hips, and positioning himself, touched his shaft lightly into the opening folds of her sex. He watched her expression as she gasped with pleasure at the contact, her black hair fanning across her face and neck as she squirmed in agitation and desire. He gritted his teeth and clasped his hands more firmly under her bottom. Then he braced his feet against the roots, pinned her with his chest, and drove up into her body, pushing them both hard against the trunk of the tree. Katherine pitched sharply against him and let out a feminine scream of pleasure at his deep invasion. Logan struggled for control and waited, absorbing the feel of being inside of her, and then he angled his hips out and drilled hard into her again.

"Yes, yes, Logan," she groaned out. "Fuck me, fuck me." Katherine did not recognize herself or her words. She could only feel the overwhelming craving for him and his lovemaking. She could think of nothing beyond the moment, relishing his deep possession and the feel of him all around her. Fire shot through her as he drove into her again, creating thrills of pleasure that raced through her veins. The aura swirled and shimmered around them, with little explosions of pleasure in her body and somehow in her mind. She wrapped her arms more tightly around the tree limbs, and Logan increased his tempo, driving himself and pounding hard against her body, the bark biting into her skin and his weight hammering her with each thrust of his hips.

Katherine clenched around his shaft to help push them both toward climax. Then she arched and groaned out to him, "Harder, harder. Oh God, Logan. Come into me, come into me." She could barely see him through the haze of the aura as she felt her climax begin to build. But she could feel him with every pore of her body, with every sense, lightning ricocheting back and forth between them. She felt the exquisite pleasure begin to crash over her, and somehow felt his building crescendo. She wanted to sob with relief and satisfaction, to absorb him, become him. "Yes, yes, come with me, Logan. Come with me," she pleaded and begged.

Katherine's cries fueled a desperate fire in Logan. He watched her frantic movements from underneath his hooded eyes as he pounded into her, and the aura grew to a deep, rich turquoise, darker than ever before. Katherine pushed and strained against him in the beginnings of her release, her cries and pleadings sending his blood racing. Holding her hips as he pistoned into her, he panted through each thrust and felt her muscles tightening in his grasp. He clenched in an answering response, tension and pleasure thundering through him as his body primed itself. Then Katherine's screams of release filled the dense forest, and the explosions of pleasure from her aura riveted Logan.
He gritted his teeth as he was filled with an exhilaration that demolished the last fragments of his control, and that sent his body driving deeper. He let out a shout that mingled with her echoes, as he was hit full force with hot pleasure. He pumped his seed into her as lightning crashed through him and as he held Katherine tightly. The aura flashed and glowed and intensified in his release until he felt he could barely breathe.

"Jesus Christ," he said in a hoarse whisper, as he finally drew in a breath, the waves of pleasure still flooding through him.

"Thank you, thank you." Katherine murmured and rained little kisses on Logan's neck and face as the sweet, rippling tensions began to slowly subside from her. She was vaguely aware that something was wrong, but could not bring it to her conscious mind. She could only feel the man against her, hearing the slowing of his breathing and enjoying the feel of his relaxing weight against her body. The pin pricks of the bark against her back and the soreness between her legs from Logan's rough loving, edged into her thoughts. Then the fear dawned on her. "Oh Jesus. Oh, no. Oh, no!" she muttered in a miserable, panicky tone and started scrambling, Logan's penis sliding from her body. "Let me down. Let me down." She pushed hard on his chest and unhooked her legs. "We've got to go. We've got to go. Let's go! LET'S GO!" her voice escalating to a frantic pitch.

"Okay. Okay." Shaking his head, Logan shifted his lust-filled mind and pushed them away from the tree, taking a solid deep breath and reorienting himself. "Don't worry," he said as fastened his jeans, grabbed her hand and pulled her with him, "I have a getaway plan."

"A plan? Did you know this was going to happen?"

"Hell, no," he said and cocked a devilish smile. "But with you darlin', it's best to be prepared." Then, he scooped up her satchel and pulled Katherine swiftly through the dense brush of the forest. After a few minutes he stopped abruptly at the corner of a gully. He looked up the side of the mountain, then herded Katherine over to a ledge that opened out onto a ravine, a fast-flowing stream at the bottom, heading straight down the other side of the mountain.

"Good lord," Katherine said as she looked at the rapids, and at the sharp angle of the flow. "We're going to try to swim in that?"

"No, not swim, it's more of a ride." He lifted the corners of his mouth. "We'll be fine. I did this once to see if I could kill myself this way and trust me, it looks a lot more dangerous than it is."

"What!" She hissed as he grabbed her bodily and heaved them both over the side of the cliff and into the frigid rapids.

≈≈≈

Katherine warmed herself by what was left of the fire, and pulled another section of meat off the stick Logan had leaned over the coals from the supper the night before. She didn't know what it was, and didn't ask. But, it staved off the growls of her stomach after the long day surviving the rapids and hiking back up another mountain. She looked over at Logan, still dozing after the night's rest, which they both needed. He had needed it more because he had tromped off into the woods to do God knows what to obtain the meat, telling her not to ask, just eat. Katherine had kept her distance from him, afraid if she touched him, or even looked closely at him, the aura would take over.

Their trip down the mountain on the water slide had been unnerving, but as Logan had promised, not lethal. Being held in his arms, he took the blows from rocks and tree limbs, and because he could barely float, he wound up pushing them off the sides and bottom of the rapidly flowing mountain stream. Finally they arrived into a calm pool in the valley, soaked, cold and gasping, but relatively unhurt.

This can't go on, she thought.

"You're awake early," Logan said softly from across the small cave causing Katherine to jump.

"Yes," she took a breath. "It's almost dawn." She couldn't see him, and it was just as well. "Logan, we can't keep running."

"I know."

"And, I don't trust myself anymore with you. I can't control the aura's influence over me. If we stay together, they'll find us."

"I know." His voice was disembodied, coming out of the shadows in the back of the rock inlet. "Are you really some kind of princess?"

"Yes, I guess so, from one perspective." She answered, without emotion.

"Princess of what? A country?"

"A planet, I suppose."

"Shit," he said almost to himself. "I knew it," he whispered in disgust. This was just his fucking luck.

"I don't give a damn about being some princess!" she said and then sighed. "Anyway, Talon will eventually find me and when he does, he'll kill me."

"Like hell he will," Logan spat out and his dark form unhinged itself from cave floor and began to move toward the yellow cast of the firelight.

"Logan, we have to accept that Talon is going to find me sooner or later. But he doesn't have to find you too. If we go separate ways, he'll never be able to hurt you. He won't even care about you," she said. Once I'm dead, she thought grimly.

"Once you're dead, you mean," he bit out and came into the edge of the light. "I'm not letting that happen."

"You're not immortal, Logan. You can be killed." She turned away to avoid seeing him and put her head in her hands.

"I've got to die sometime," he said blandly and moved closer to her, reached out and touched her on the back. Then Logan frowned as a blue-green mist encircled his hand where he touched her, and she flinched as if shocked, scooting away. "Damn, this is odd stuff," he said as he looked at his hand, the aura swirling and glowing, a tingling beginning in his body. He took a sharp breath.

"Please don't touch me," she said and inched further away from him. "What a thing to say, 'you've got to die sometime.' Don't you even care about your own life, Logan?" she complained over her shoulder. "You're crazy."

"I didn't know there was any question about that," he said, as he turned his hand over and over, watching the aura circle around and swirl out. "Katherine, do I have an aura now?" he asked.

"What?" She turned partly toward him and her brow wrinkled in perplexity as she saw the turquoise color swimming around Logan's hand. Then, he extended both hands toward her and touched her shoulders. The aura jumped out from him and covered her chest, drawing a deep breath from her as she tried to push back.

"Shit, this is fucking amazing," Logan said. "I can feel it," he breathed.

"Logan, stop. This is dangerous." She looked up at him and saw that the aura was glowing gently around his whole body now. Oh no, oh no. "I'm leaving. I'll check with you in a few hours. Go take a cold shower." But as she rose to her feet, Logan whipped out his hand and grabbed her ankle, the aura blasting up her leg and into her body. She gasped as pleasure exploded in her. Oh, no.

"You're not going anywhere, darlin'."

"No, Logan," she said in as stern a tone as she could muster, as she struggled against the growing pleasure and tried to push back from Logan's grip. "Have you lost all your senses?"

"It looks like I've got a new one," he muttered, and then pulled on her leg, causing her to stumble and plop down on her backside in front of him. "Come here, you." He moved quickly over her and brought his arms around her middle, pulling her to him. Placing a knee between her legs, he separated her thighs, pushing to open the V of her body. Then Logan leaned into her and pressed her down against the floor of the cave. He slanted his mouth over hers, and settled himself against her frame, as the aura swirled and shimmered around them.

"Logan," she whimpered as a bolt of desire slammed through her. "Please don't. Let me up. Oh God, oh God."

"What about the prophecy? Don't we need a son?" he offered as he nuzzled her.

"You don't believe in that! Let me up!" But her own body was belying her words, as she arched against him and fought not to grab him in a desperate embrace. Katherine stilled herself and shook her head, gathering her fading determination. Then she wrenched free by twisting over and drawing her knees under her. Logan seemed to hesitate as Katherine wrestled away and crawled on all fours toward the faint gray light coming from the cave entrance.

"Good idea," Logan said in an odd tone as he grabbed her from behind and forcefully pulled her body back and against his groin. He pinned her and leaned over her back, then bunched her skirt in his hand and drew her cotton dress up over her naked butt. Logan growled as he wrapped one strong arm around Katherine's waist and glided the other hand over the smooth, round globes of her bottom.

"Oh no, please," she whispered, propped on her hands and knees, with Logan's weight pressed on her. While one arm held her captive, his other hand fondled her butt and brushed her vagina with his fingers, sending Katherine's blood soaring. Turning her head, she could see the aura all over his skin, jumping back and forth where they touched, like little sparks of electricity. Her body was fired by his hold on her but she turned her head and whispered over her shoulder, "Please, Logan. Don't risk this."

"I've got to darlin'," he rasped at her ear. Then he lifted up slightly, reached down and released himself from his jeans. Holding her motionless, he pushed her dress up over her body, exposing the smooth, milky skin of her back and the delicate curve of her spine. Then he placed his hand on her hip and stroked up along the soft flesh to the nape of her neck. He clamped his fingers around her neck and shoulder and gently pressed down. Logan watched in a heat as she submitted to the pressure and lowered her torso to the floor, crooking an arm underneath her face, a groan escaping from her as the aura swirled around them and deepened in color.

Logan clenched his teeth, as desire shot through him at the sight of Katherine, her head down and her sweet little rump hoisted up in the air for his possession. He clamped down on her neck gently, moved his other hand to find the hot, slick folds of her body, and inserted two fingers. Katherine moaned and quivered as Logan stroked his fingers in and out, and pressed down on her upper body, pinning her to the floor. Then he leaned over her back, kissing and nuzzling the fine skin, and inhaled deeply of her lilac scent.

"I'm going to have you now, darlin'," he breathed out as he lodged his legs against hers and pushed her knees further apart. "Is that okay?"

"Yes," she whimpered as Logan spread her for his penetration. Withdrawing his fingers from her, he wrapped his arm tightly around her waist and positioned his hips. Then he pushed down hard with his other arm, imprisoning her upper body, and drove into her. She arched her back at the invasion and was shot through with intense pleasure. The aura sparked and flashed at the edges of her vision and she heard Logan let out a hoarse yell of satisfaction.

"Oh, God Katherine," Logan bit out, as he withdrew from her and hammered himself back in, the aura streaming and sparking all around them, magnifying his pleasure a hundred fold. "This is what it feels like," he breathed out in amazement, as he drove in and out, his groin filled with tension and hot exhilaration. Logan watched as the aura bloomed and deepened, simmering and sparking each time he flexed and plunged into her.

Logan released her neck and grasped her around the waist with both hands, holding Katherine's hips steady as he ratcheted up his pace, bringing them both to the peak. She whimpered out in little moans, pushed up on her arms, and arched her back. Then, she lifted her head and let out a long, feminine cry of release. Logan was pummeled by the waves from her pleasure, sending him over his own edge as he flexed and slammed into her. Then, with a long groan, he exploded deep into her body, holding steady into her as thrilling ecstasy crashed over him and every muscle clenched to its ultimate tension.

Katherine braced on her hands and knees as Logan began to gradually release his grip on her, and she sagged down. She heard his breathing slow, as he rubbed her hips and leaned onto her back, taking deep breaths of her and muttering indistinct words. She waited for her head to clear while the aura faded and then shifted her hips away and tugged her dress down. She swallowed the sob that threatened to rise as she turned around to face Logan. He slowly sat back on his haunches and gazed at her.

"God, Katherine," he breathed out, a half-pleased, half-astonished look on his face.

"I won't get you killed," she said facing him, his chest still lifting. She pulled on her shoes and took a deep breath, her decision made, "no matter how much you would like to die for me."

"Katherine, no one's going to die..." he started, but she moved to him, put her hand on his face and brought her mouth to his, pressing her lips against him in a tender, gentle caress. Then she pulled back.

"I love you, Logan," she said quietly, gazing into his wolf-gray eyes, softened by their lovemaking. "Just always remember that," she said sadly. Then she lifted up out of his reach, and walked quickly from the cave.

"Wait, I..." he called as he pulled up his jeans. "Katherine, you're being silly. Wait!" He called sharply. "For Christ sakes," he muttered, getting to his feet.

≈≈

The three beast-men jumped down from the ledge as Katherine walked down the hill from the cave. They crouched before her like animals spotting prey. She froze, took a step back, dropped her satchel and spun around to run.

Logan bolted past her in a sprint, a look of fury and blood lust on his face, and his razor sharp claws unsheaved. He launched himself at the nearest man and sliced a path through the beast's chest without pausing, a roar erupting from him as he attacked. Then, he twisted around and catapulted up onto the second man. Yelling and stabbing into the second beast-man, Logan shouted for Katherine to run. Then, he grabbed the strap of the beast's weapon and jerked violently backward. Holding the strap, Logan jumped down, bringing the beast-man stumbling to his knees. Then Logan wrapped his arm around the man's neck and drew a long stroke over his back and up through his body, causing him to go limp and slump forward.

Logan whirled around just as the third beast-man set upon him, lunging out with the butt of his weapon toward Logan's head. Logan ducked down, taking the blow with his upper back and winced and grunted with the pain. Taking a step back, Logan spun in a circle, slashing the beast under the ribcage, eliciting a roar of pain as Logan encircled him with his other arm.

Katherine reached the rock wall, turned and watched in horror as three more of the beast soldiers came trotting over the rise toward Logan, who was stood holding the dying man. Logan's head snapped around as he spotted them, a growl emerging from his throat.

Then, her world shifted again as a hand came over her mouth and her arm was wrenched painfully behind her back drawing a cry from her. She was pushed out from her hiding place into the open where Logan stood across the clearing.

"Please cease slaughtering my men," a smooth, elegant, masculine voice called out over her shoulder. Katherine swallowed fear. Oh God, no. Talon.

Still heaving, Logan paused and lifted his head to stare aggressively at the man gripping Katherine. He was tall and thin, with short gray hair and perfectly, unnaturally smooth, olive skin. His eyes were blood red, in sharp contrast to Katherine's turquoise.

"Hurt her and you're dead, bub," Logan called out with a sneer. But as he finished his statement, the three new beast-men appeared at the edge of the clearing, and then three more appeared from the east. Logan took in the scene, narrowed his eyes and calculated his timing.

"Now, why would I want to hurt my future wife?" Talon said with emphasis.

"I'll die first," Katherine rasped out in a low, thin voice.

"Cause me any more trouble princess," he tightened his grip and hissed into her ear, "and I'll have your earth pet vaporized."

"Katherine," Logan called from across the clearing, "come to me," concern etched in his voice.

Katherine stopped struggling, looked at Logan, and counted six new soldiers making their way toward the clearing. Then, she looked west and saw three more in the distance, and then north and saw three more. She choked back a sob and said in a wretched whisper, "Please don't hurt him."

"That's better," Talon said very softly and then louder for Logan, "You see good fellow, Katherine must come back with me and become a queen, and take the place to which she was born. She has a role beyond you, or anything on this planet."

"Katherine?" Logan stood up straight and dropped his hold on the beast-man, who fell weakly to the ground with a thud and a moan. Logan stared at her, anguish and a question in his face, and took a breath.

"He's right Logan," she called as Talon released her. Inhaling deeply and trying to fortify herself for the ruse, she said, "I have to go back." Trying not to crumble, she continued, "I didn't understand everything before. I'm needed to help make peace between the houses. To help save lives," she lied. Then she watched as the blood drained out of Logan's face and he tightened his jaw, standing silently.

"Katherine," he said carefully, "What about your parents?" He paused, hesitant, "Our...?" He tightened his lips. What a fucking moron he was. Of course not.

"It has to be this way." She took a breath and stood up straight, her chin raised. "I'm a princess, Logan. I can't be with someone like you." She swallowed hard, the lie choking her. "I'm sorry," she said and dipped her head, blinking back the tears pooling behind her eyes. She knew it was the only reason he would accept: that he was not worthy of her. Oh God. She felt herself beginning to collapse inside. She would come apart if she looked at him again. "Let's go, then," she spit out.

Nodding, Talon quickly led her to the clearing where they stepped on a platform, along with three of the beast-men. Katherine kept her chin up but diverted her eyes from Logan. Then a red, transparent wall of color encircled her and she turned to look out on the countryside that she would never see again. She tried to breathe as she watched the first rays of sunlight filter through the early forest dawn. The red craft began to rise, and as it did, Talon said to one of the beasts, "Have them kill that earth scum."

"What!" Katherine whipped around, as a beast spoke into a device. "You said he could live if I went with you!" she screamed.

"I lied," Talon sneered and backhanded her. "You're in the red house now, I make the rules, princess."

Her face stinging, Katherine lunged to the front of the craft and slammed her hands against the transparent red wall, looking desperately down at the clearing. The soldiers were closing on Logan who stood stock-still and stared up at her, his image becoming smaller as the craft rose. Katherine watched in helplessness and fear as Logan looked around him at the approaching men, looked up at her again and braced his feet.

"Nooooooooooo!" Katherine screamed in warning and outrage and pounded her fists against the red wall, watching as one of the beasts fired his weapon toward Logan. Tears streamed down her face as she screamed and slammed her hands harder and harder against the unyielding surface.

"Katherine, cease the theatrics, or I'll have you beaten," Talon said as she continued to hammer her hands and arms against the wall, until she felt her bones would crack, trying to fight the cruel destiny, her heart breaking into pieces.

As the ship rose over the highest treetops, sunlight suddenly streamed into the vessel, hitting Katherine's hands. She gasped as she was struck with a jolt of energy, almost knocking the breath from her. As she watched in confusion, her hands glowed turquoise, in brilliant contrast to her red prison. She frowned and continued to beat against the wall, and the blue-green color mushroomed out and over her, strengthening and amplifying.
"What is this trick? Stop her!" Talon ordered.

"To hell with you!" Katherine said over her shoulder as she could feel the energy in her expand. With tears still streaming down her face, she screamed out her rage. But then she looked down at Logan, now tiny below the ship, and saw a bubble of blue-green color surrounding him in the clearing. Relief flooded her. "Fuck you, Talon!" she yelled as the ship began to shake and she began to laugh.

"Katherine, stop immediately," he said and put a hand on her shoulder but it was blasted off by the turquoise aura.

"Go to hell, Talon!" Katherine screamed out and felt a flood of energy and hope and power over the forces that had always controlled her life. "I will rise in power, you piece of shit!" she screamed. "With the sun, the red house will fall forever!" She laughed hysterically, as she hammered harder on the walls of the ship causing the turquoise aura to swell and engorge the vessel.

"But Katherine," Talon pleaded with her, panic rising in his voice as he looked around anxiously at the ship that was now shaking violently, "Be sensible, you'll die too!"

"I don't care! I don't care!" she shrieked. "I've got to die sometime!" She screamed like a banshee, turned her face up and let out a crazy laugh that curdled Talon's blood and caused him to step back from her. She pounded the wall with all her strength, looked down at the now tiny scene on the ground, and shouted, "Loooogaaaaaaaaaaan..."

And then, the aura exploded the ship, sending it into a million red pieces out over the mountainside.

Logan watched in fear and amazement as Katherine stood against the red glass, her mouth opening and closing as she hammered with her fists. What the hell was she doing? She was yelling something and beating on the wall, her aura growing. If only he could get there and help her. He was standing in the clearing, untouched now by the mercenaries, somehow surrounded by the aura. Maybe they both did it. He frowned fiercely as he studied the ship. It had risen to the highest treetops and when the sunlight hit it, something had changed dramatically. Now, he could barely make her out, and all he could do was wait.

Then he watched in horror as the red ship exploded in a burst of turquoise light, sending red fragments flying out in all directions from the blast, a beautiful, terrible sunburst of blue-greens and reds that lit the azure sky, and chilled his blood.

"Oh Jesus, Katherine. No," Logan whispered and sank to his knees. "No, no." He shook his head, tears and grief threatening to overwhelm him as he watched the sky fade. He clenched his jaw and his fists, trying to hold on, as pain seared him through his heart. He'd lost her. Somehow she had tried to save him, but not herself. He hung his head, took a breath and tried to hold down a sob. He looked up and saw that all the beast-men were scattering, and his rage grabbed him.

"Come back! Come back you bastards!" he roared. "Come back so I can fucking kill you!" He yelled out in his fury and desolation.

Then, he stared back up at the place where the ship had been, and blinked. He blinked again, frowned and narrowed his eyes. A blue-green ribbon of light was stretching out from where he knelt, connecting to where the ship had exploded. Logan stilled himself and held his breath.

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Katherine was flying. Or rather sliding, she thought, and giggled. She felt free, freer than she had ever been. And happy. Maybe I'm dead– this isn't so bad. Oh, and the view is so beautiful!

Then, two strong arms were catching her and she fell back to earth, with a thud.

"Are we dead?"

"Not by a long shot, darlin'."

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[Of course the character of Logan belongs exclusively to Marvel. But with the upcoming new movies (2006,2007) and H. Jackman's exciting portrayal of Wolverine, we should all be able to enjoy this wonderful, archetypal, wounded hero. Thanks to all readers and especially to those kind enough to vote or comment.]