Institutionalized

INSTITUTIONALIZED CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT
Disclaimers Apply


A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies and BUSIEST WOMAN ALIVE (tm), I've sent Alan in search of the delinquent package. If he shows up, watch your eye make up. He'll have it on the second you turn your back... InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink make me all squishy inside because they archive. Readers/Reviewers: The goose is back from the cabaret and he's pissed...he's taking over the role of the ducks and refusing to let any other avians in the house. Hmmm.... Makes the Killer Kitties (tm) edgy. Oh, just FYI-the first part of this chapter has some mild BDSM in it. If that bugs you, skip ahead to the end of the chapter.

Lance did not have any problems falling asleep. He was poked and prodded by Beast, assured of his health, force-fed warm milk by Storm and sent to bed all before ten pm. He had protested, of course, but did not mind admitting, once he was between his sheets, that he wanted and needed to sleep. Todd was still downstairs, refusing to leave Rogue's side as she slept under light sedation, so Lance had the room blessedly to himself for once. He felt like he had just closed his eyes for seconds when he felt someone sit beside him on the bed. "Todd, go to your own damn bed."
"It's not Todd," Amara said softly.
Lance's eyes flew open and he jerked into a sitting position, making Amara lean back to avoid a nasty whack on the head courtesy of his forehead. "What're you doing here? Someone's going to see you..."
"Everyone's been asleep for hours," she said softly, leaning forward again, pushing him back against the bed.
"What time is it?"
"Almost one a.m." She trailed her fingers down his chest to his stomach, no artifice in her actions. "You were sleeping hard."
Lance had the feeling that she was using a double meaning, judging by his distinct inability to think straight from lack of blood in his brain. "Amara..."
"Shhhh." She smiled in the moonlight and lay down against his side. "It's been a week, you know."
"A week?" he murmured, his heart picking up speed. "Already?"
"Mmm." One leg draped across his hips and she pressed against him slightly, the growing heat between her thighs evident even through his pajama bottoms.
"You sure?" he asked with the air of someone dreading an answer.
"Mmmmm," she said again, this time more loudly and with a hint of a growl in her voice. She shifted suddenly and was astride him. "You know," she said conversationally, as if she were not pulling her nightgown over her head and twisting the thin material into a cord of sorts between her hands, "you worry too much. You need to relax more and learn to trust me." She leaned forward then, holding the twisted fabric in one hand and running the fingers of the other down his left arm. "Do you trust me, Lance?"
He nodded and gasped in semi-surprise as she roughly pulled his arm up to the headboard and secured his wrist with one end of the nightgown-cum-rope. She raked her nails lightly down his other arm as she reached for his wrist, bringing it up to join the first and tying them both tightly against the wooden bed frame. He knew that anything he said would be met with silence on her part, they had done this enough to have unspoken rules established. Lance bit down on his tongue to keep from saying her name as she pushed her dark hair behind her ears, unconcerned by her nudity and his eyes devouring her. _On second thought, she knows damn well I'm staring...this is all part of the deal to her... _ The thought flitted across his mind as Amara feigned a yawn, stretching and arching her back, her small breasts drawing his eyes as they rose and fell with her breath. Finally, he did speak one word. "Candle?"
"Not tonight," she whispered, "I'm all out...besides, I think you're still recovering from last time...." As she spoke, she skimmed her fingers over a red mark below his left nipple. Lance winced slightly and she said softly, "I'm sorry..."
"No, I knew it could happen." In fact, he was surprised it had not happened earlier. It was the one time Amara had actually apologized for any discomfort she caused him during their lovemaking and somehow, he almost liked it. He did not have much time to think about it, th. A. Amara rose slightly and pushed his pants down until he could work them off with his feet, kicking them to the end of the bed as she knelt above him, wonderfully pagan in her aspect, her features indiscernible in the dark with the silver moonlight only picking out her shape and nothing else. With excruciatingly slow movements, she leaned forward and bit sharply down on his neck where it joihis his shoulder, then laved the spot with the tip of her tongue. Lance made a noise in his throat as she did it, repeating the gesture below his ear, then on his lower lip. She purposefully brushed her breasts against his chest as she moved, letting the soft flesh tease his skin there before reaching up to ostensibly check the bindings at his wrists, staying just enough out of reach so he could not capture one of the dark peaks in his mouth as he was eager to do. She seemed to wiggle an inordinate amount as she checked first one wrist, then the other, her body so close to his but not touching. He knew she could feel his breath on her because she shivered when he exhaled, making her nipples grow even more erect. Abruptly, she sat back on his thighs, not touching the source of his need. "What?" he asked.
Frowning, Amara pinched him on the inside of one thigh. "I have an idea." She stood and grabbed one of his shirts from the floor, grimacing slightly at the smell of sweat emanating from it before slipping it over her head. On quiet feet, she slipped form the room, leaving Lance to hover between anticipation and annoyance until she returned a few moments later. "You never did answer...do you trust me?" When Lance nodded silently, she smiled, showing teeth in an almost frightening manner. "Good..." With two quick strides, she was on the bed again, one knee on either side of his, dangling something between her fingers. Seriously, she said, "You want a safeword1?"
"Um...yeah...."
"Okay. If this is too painful, just say..." she looked around vaguely, trying to choose something, "Say Todd."
"Ew, Princess!"
"Like you would say his name otherwise?" she asked, raising one brow. "Now lay still. If you fight, it'll only be more difficult."
Lance put up a token struggle, just to make her happy, as she tied a length of ribbon around the base of his arousal, the fabric feeling alien to him as it slid around him, the knot she tied almost too tight but not quite. They had talked about things like this before but he had never wanted to suggest it because he could not see how it would be enjoyable, but now he was changing his mind. Quickly. Amara smiled in minor self satisfaction at her handiwork and crawled forward, this time laying against him, her feet sliding to hook under his knees as if anchoring herself to him. She bit her lip for an instant before kissing him, his hands jerking against the headboard as he automatically tried to put his arms around her. Her small laugh at his hiss of frustration grew to a loud giggle when he groaned, his member becoming painfully erect, the ribbon now officially tighter than he would have liked. Still, he did not use the word, did not want to stop what they were doing. Amara paused for a moment, seemingly assessing him, before nodding slightly and kissing him again, teasing his lips with her tongue but not letting him have entry to her mouth. She trailed kisses and licks from his mouth to his throat, leaving a purple mark where his collarbones met. Lance arched his hips automatically, seeking that which was not there as Amara carefully moved to one side, not letting her heated core near his eager length. Her mouth traced wet patterns all over his chest and stomach, up one arm and down the other as she very circumspectly moved around him, never touching him with anything other than her mouth and the occasional hank of hair falling to tickle his skin. She skipped his now-throbbing arousal, purpling from lack of circulation, and began her ministrations on his thighs, nipping and licking, murmuring against his skin as his groans began to fall one on top of the other like waves, her name drawn out as to be almost unintelligible. He was very close to begging her to touch him where he ached the most but she acted before he could embarrass himself. Her fingers closed around him, just above the ribbon she had tied and then her mouth followed. Lance fell silent then, unable to voice all that he was feeling and wanting as she set to work on him, making love to him with her lips and tongue and hands. He thought he would go mad from wanting to release in her mouth but found he could not, no matter how much he wanted to. _Fucking ribbon _, he thought heatedly, _she is evil...I like evil, but still... EVIL! _
Amara stopped suddenly and fixed him with a hard gaze. As if confirming suspicions, her mouth fell into set lines and she moved up his body, letting her stomach drag against him as she moved. Lance groaned and bucked against her, making her cluck disapproval and remove her touch. When he all but whimpered and fell back against the bed, she smiled. "I think you've been very good, letting me test this little trick o. Yo. You can have a reward," she purred. With little warning, she edged back and slid his length inside her. He cried out then, the pain and pleasure of pressure on his aching, throbbing member almost too much to bear. Slowly, Amara began to move, rocking her hips in an unpredictable but excruciating rhythm. Lance's fingers clutched at the air and he pulled against his restraints, knowing it was futile but unable to help himself. He could feel how wet she was and how she contracted around him, drawing responses he could not give until she let him. When she had his gaze, Amara reached between them and Lance felt almost horrified that she was going to touch herself. _I can't take it if she does that...I'll have to say the fucking safeword and I'll never hear the end of it then... _ Instead, he gasped and shook with relief as she pulled the ribbon free, dragging the rough fabric against both of them. Lance lost most of his control then, the sudden release of restraint flooding him with relief and easing some of the pleasured pain he was feeling through his spine. He rose beneath her, thrusting madly as she gasped and grabbed onto his legs behind her, trying to keep balance. His release was quick, her name a sigh and groan all at once on his lips. He felt her shudder around him as he filled her and then, when she moved to lay against him, reaching up to untie his wrists, she said, "That didn't go quite as I planned."
"I'm sorry," he said automatically, realizing at the same time she had not climaxed.
"No, it's not you. And it was very, very good...I just didn't quite know what the ribbon would do."
"Where do you learn all this stuff anyway?" He had been meaning to ask her for some time but never quite got the nerve until then.
After a long pause, Amara said, "Let's just say that I hope Logan doesn't go looking through his back issues of Penthouse any time soon..."
Lance's laugh was loud and filled the room as he tightened his arms around her. "I'm glad you're alive," he said a moment later, sobering.
"Let's not think about what happened, okay? Let's just lay here," she yawned. Lance was more than happy to agree.

Wanda felt like she was empty, staring down at Tabby. Warren had taken her to the small hospital in Bayville where he had taken Tabitha and left her there while he returned to talk to the Professor and let them know she-they-were mostly fine. She felt alone then and Wanda hated it. "Can you hear me, Tabs?" she asked softly, reaching out to touch her hand with a tentative finger.
Tabby murmured incoherently, then said, "Wanda?"
"Shhh...you're in the hospital in Bayville. You're fine, the baby's fine..." It was a little lie but a necessary one. The doctor had told her than Tabby would need to be on absolute bed rest for the next three months, until she delivered the baby. Her blood pressure was far too high, the edema was nearly out of control and the gestational diabetes had gone from borderline to full blown. Wanda would need to make sure she walked just a little every day, enough to keep circulation going and relieve some of the water bloat in her legs, but no more than what the doctor strictly mandated. "They even told me what you're having."
"A baby..." Tabby said faintly, very tired and very sick to her stomach.
"Well, I know the gender. Do you want to know?"
Tabby woke a little more and shook her head. "Surprise...what are you doing here anyway?"
Wanda huffed in mock exasperation and said, "Well, fine! I'll just leave then!"
"No, no! Stay!" Tabby's grip on Wanda's hand was painful and desperate. "I don't want to be alone here!"
Wanda sighed. "I wouldn't really leave..." She sighed and carefully sat on the edge of the bed. "They're gonna let you out in the morning. I think Logan's gonna come check you out."
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you later," she whispered, mindful of the silence of the ward so late at night. "I was scared," she admitted.
"Me, too..."
"Scared for you, though, not myself. Tabby...we need to talk later, okay?"
"About what?"
"Just...stuff..." Wanda had realized somewhere in the past few days that she had more than a passing affection for Tabby and worried that it might be something irrevocable. Tabby's indecision on her own sexuality made it all the more excruciating to consider.
The blonde frowned a little and closed her eyes again. "I had a dream that Amara and Lance buried me alive and took the baby to give to the Professor... Is this happening to me because of what I did to them? I'm so sorry..." Tears started leaking down her cheeks at a quick rate and Wanda fumbled for the box of tissues beside the bed before blotting them away. "Sorry," Tabby croaked.
"Don't be... Listen, this isn't because of how you were. Stop thinking like that. What you did then was then. It can't be changed and it's gone, okay? You have to live with it and so do they and I'm not saying it'll be all roses with you guys any time soon, if ever, but what you need to do is just...move on. Know it was wrong and move on."
Tabby opened one eye and regarded her semi-girlfriend with some faint amusement. "Wanda honey, I think you're turning into one of them, talking like that."
"Shut up, blondie," she said gruffly, smiling llinllingly as Tabby giggled. "I have to go in the morning when Logan gets here..."
"Where?"
Wanda sighed harshly. "I can't say yet...just that...that I think I know where to find Magneto and Mystique." In fact, she thought to herself, she didn't think so, she knew so.
1 In some BDSM situations, people use a safeword, a word that otherwise wouldn't be said during the situation, in order to opt out of an activity if it gets too intense.