The Hidden Truths

Logan lay stretched out on a blanket down by the lake, with his arms folded behind his head and his eyes closed. Consumed by the sounds of nature, it was here he felt most relaxed and at home. Here, is where he did most of his thinking and like most of the time, his thoughts revolved around Marie.

He was amazed at how easily she was able to corrupt his thoughts. Sometimes he’d try to force himself to think of something else, but often failed miserably. Even tonight, he tried, but couldn’t seem to get what happened last night out of his head.

He was shocked that Marie blatantly disrespected him and in front of her friends too. She was never rude or defiant towards him and always showed him respect, no matter how close they got as friends. He knew it was probably the liquor in her talking, but it still bothered him.

As he continued to dwell on Marie’s sudden boldness, he sat up abruptly. A soft rustling sound in the trees behind him, followed by the snapping of twigs, broke his train of thought. His body stiffened and his hands curled into tight fists by his sides, ready to unsheathe his claws if he had to.

He cocked his head to the side, listening intently and sniffing at the air. The sweet aroma of lavender and jasmine gradually filled his senses. Instantly, his body eased and a smile grew on his face. Before long, he could feel her standing behind him and hear her shallow breathing and the light pounding rhythm of her heart. At first, he thought it might be due to her lengthy walk into the woods, but then he sensed her nervousness.

It struck him odd at first, but then he remembered what happened last night. Either she remembered what she said, or Kitty and Jubilee had told her. Still, something didn’t seem right about her presence.

Logan twisted around to look at her and what he saw sent chills down his spine. The look she had in her soft greens eyes, resembled nothing close to being nervous. At least not in the way he thought. Instead, she gazed back at him with a sense of lust and need.

‘It can’t be, she couldn’t possibly be looking at me like that,’ he questioned himself.

“May I?” Marie uttered softly, glancing down to the empty spot beside him and biting her lower lip.

He knew he should have replied with a stern no and sent her on her way. It wouldn’t be right if he let her get away with what she said to him last night, but he couldn’t resist that look she gave him. The soft look in her eyes made his heart race and the way she bit her lip, made him too weak to refuse her.

Logan sighed and nodded to the spot next to him, before turning back around. He stared aimlessly at the lake, as she knelt down beside him, admiring its beauty, as the moon reflected off the still water.

Marie had so many thoughts swirling around in her head, but there was one thing she had to take care of first. She had to apologize.

“I’m sorry…about last night,” she started, before beginning to ramble, “I don’t know what possessed me to say it. I wasn’t trying to be rude or show off in front of my friends. I didn’t…”
“Enough Marie,” Logan interrupted in a stern raspy voice, as he turned to look at her.
“But Logan, I’m…”
“I know,” he cut her off again, “just don’t let it happen again.”
“Can I at least make it up to you?” Marie asked more calmly.
“What did you have in mind darlin’?” Logan asked curiously, titling his head to the side and raising his brow.

Marie swallowed hard and bit her lower lip again. She loved it when he did that thing with his eyebrow and couldn’t think of anything sexier than that. It was all he ever needed to do, to spark her arousal and make her melt.

She tried to casually clamp her thighs tighter together, to hide her reaction, without being to obvious, but it made it worse. Her sex throbbed and her body temperature soared and rushed over her. She had waited so long for this moment; and despite her afternoon dream, she didn’t know what to do. She suddenly found herself scared and nervous.

“Marie?” he asked concernedly, sensing the change in her mood, “what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she quickly replied, “just…close your eyes.”
“Why?” he questioned, as he scanned her face for a sign to what she was up to.
“Please…”she answered in a whisper, her voice shaky.

A low growl formed in his throat, as he reluctantly closed his eyes. He heard her shifting closer to him on the blanket and soon felt the warmth of her breath hitting his face. His body tensed and his heart began to race.

Marie inched closer to Logan, until their knees were practically touching. The words, ‘now or never,’ kept repeating in her head. Finally, she closed her eyes tightly and placed all of her energy into relaxing her body and freeing her mind. With trembling hands, Marie cupped his face.

They sat there motionless for a moment, then Logan’s breath caught in his chest and his eyes flew open. He stared at her in shock, as his mind raced to try to rationalize what was happening.

‘What the hell? How is this possible? When did it…how did it…’ he thought erratically.

Trying to make sense out of what was happening, Logan closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Her arousal filled his senses and hisrt srt started to pound more fiercely in his chest and his mind continued to race frantically. He couldn’t believe that after all these years, Marie was finally able to touch.
The fact that she obviously wanted more than to just touch his face, was mind blowing. He had been attracted to her for so long, believing it would be safe for him to think the things he sometimes thought about her, that he never thought he’d see this day. Now that he had a choice, he knew what he had to do.

Logan sighed heavily and opened his eyes. He gazed at Marie, who was still trembling, before raising his hands and covering hers.

“Marie…” he uttered softly.

Marie slowly opened her eyes and gazed lustfully at Logan. Her stomach was in knots and she felt like she would explode from the anticipation. Logan searched her eyes frantically, then slowly lowered her hands to her lap.

“…I can’t…” he regretfully muttered.

Marie’s breath caught in her chest and her heart sank. The knots in her stomach quickly loosened and the sudden need to get sick swept over her. She feonfuonfused, hurt and embarrassed, all at the same time. She knew she wasn’t imagining it, when he flirted with her, but evidentially he didn’t mean it in the way she hoped.

“Why? I thought that…I mean…but I lo…”
“And I do too…just not in the way you want me to,” Logan interrupted, with sadness in his voice.
“But you always…”
“I can’t deny being attracted to you Marie, you’re a beautiful woman and I’d have to be blind not to see that. It’s just if things were…different then maybe…”
“You mean if you weren’t still in love with her,” Marie uttered, as her eyes began to tear, “then maybe I would’ve stood a chance.”

Logan closed his eyes and his head dipped forward. He had always done anything he could to protect her and keep her from harm. Knowing that this was something he couldn’t save her from and that he had caused her pain, he felt as though someone had reached inside his chest and viciously ripped out his heart.

“I’m sorry,” was all Logan could mange to say.

Marie sat there in silence, trying to fight back the urge to cry. She felt as though her world had come crashing down on her and that all her dreams had been crushed by two little words. She knew if she stayed there any longer that it would make it worse. As much as she didn’t want to leave, she slowly pulled away and stood. Logan quickly opened his eyes when he felt her move.

“Marie, please don’t be…”
“Just…give me some time okay,” Marie interrupted with a shaky voice, before walking away.

Logan sat there with sad eyes and watched her leave. He felt horrible about what happened and cursed himself for not seeing it coming, even though deep down he did.
He felt like such and asshole and a coward for being to afraid to admit it. He didn’t want to face the fact that his little Marie was growing up and was fully capable of those types of feelings, especially towards him. He knew he should’ve confronted it sooner, but he never thought it would come down to this. He thought Marie would stay forever more untouchable and thought he was safe from her acting on her feelings.

Now that everything changed, he could only hope that their friendship wouldn’t. He valued her friendship more than anything and to loose that, would be like loosing a part of himself with it. He would do as she asked and give her the time she needed and wait patiently for the day when she’ll look at him and say silently with her eyes, that everything is okay.