0 comments/ 35609 views/ 3 favorites Untamable Hearts Ch. 1 By: PamperedSteel The checkered cab pulled up to the gate as ordered. The woman told him not to drive through them, though she didn't tell him why. She hadn't been back here in almost two years. Not since she turned 18. She had no idea if the security had been updated and didn't want to risk getting the cab blown up. She knew she'd still be on the system, though. She was still part of the X-Men, after all. She paid the cabby and shouldered her army-size duffel bag. The cab drove off as she entered the gates and made the walk to the front door. It was odd to not be rolling up the drive, but that wasn't how she wanted to come home. She was a grown up now and it was time certain people knew that. Her yellow trench coat fluttered in the breeze and showed of the silk shirt she had bout in China. She looked good in oriental clothing, but her jeans were still all-American. As were her trademark pink shades perched on the top of her head. Jubilee was glad to be home. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ A rugged man in a cowboy hat walked towards the back door of the mansion. He had enjoyed watching the sun rise over the lake while he smoked his morning cigar. It was one of the little rituals that made his life here so comfortable. Normally the X-Men didn't eat breakfast together, but on days when they did special training it only made sense. On those rare days it was his turn to cook. He really couldn't complain. No one even tried to make him cook dinners and these training sessions only came around once a month. He remembered the first time he had been talked into making breakfast. Chuck had told him he had to take his turn cooking sometime, so this arrangement was made. Knowing everyone would get sick of fried eggs, Jubilee had taught him how to use the waffle machine. He chuckled at the memory of that scrawny kid teaching him anything. It had worked though. Wolvie's Waffles had become a once a month treat for everyone. Not that he would ever admit how proud he was of that. He froze as a familiar scent caught is sensitive nostrils. The breeze smelled like Jubilee. For a moment he wondered if his memory had supplied the scent. It had been almost two years after all. But no, this smell was subtly different, but definitely Jubilee. Logan increased his pace and headed for the front of the mansion. He smiled a little at the thought of having his little shadow back. Jubie could be a pest, but she was a pest he had missed. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Jubilee climbed the steps to the mansion with a smile on her face. She had left on her 18th birthday, but she had still been a child. This was going to be her first time in the mansion as a woman. Even her body agreed with her. Sometime over the past 21 months her body had finally finished forming. Her hips had rounded, her breast swelled, and even her face and sharpened in all the right places. She couldn't wait to see the surprised look on the faces of her friends. The 'kid' had become a woman and not one of them had ever really excepted that it would happen. She especially wanted to see that look on one face. A face that had stayed with her no matter how hard she tried not to think of him... She hovered on the porch enjoying this moment. She had found her birth family, the grandparents and older sister she had never met while her parents were alive, and realized what she should have known all along. This was were she belonged. She just hoped the others were as glad to have her back as she was to be home. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Logan slowed as he walked up to the porch where she was standing. All he could see was that damn yellow trench coat. He shook his head in amusement. Some things never change. "Welcome back short-stuff." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Jubilee jumped and spun around. There he was, looking just the same as she remembered him. He had been away the day she left. The day after her 18th birthday. She had arranged it that way, packing the moment she knew he was gone. He would have offered to come with her if she had told him. She had known she wouldn't have been able to say no, so she had snuck off living a good-bye letter in his room. Only Xavier had known why she was leaving, and he had understood why she didn't want to say good-bye. This was something she had to do on her own. Find her past, her heritage, and herself. "Well if it isn't the ol' Canuckle-head himself!" She dropped her duffel bag on the porch and hopped to the ground. "Glad to see me Wolvie?" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Logan could barely believe his eyes. This was not the Jubilee that had tweaked his nose and annoyed him daily. This was a grown woman! What was even worse was that she was beautiful. He couldn't believe he had thought such a thing about the girl that he had always thought of as a little sister. He quickly put it down to a sort of 'brotherly pride'. The kid had always been cute, he should have expected her took look at least as good when she was full grown. "Yeah, kid. Took ya long enough." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Jubilee thought she had caught his eyes lingering on her, but she realized it could have been her imagination. She stuck her tongue out at him. Long enough indeed! Then she was annoyed that he had gotten her to act like a kid. This was not going how she had planned at all! She decided that if her 'adult' manner had already been broken she might as well give in to temptation once more. A huge grin spread across her face as she ran the short distance that was left between her and the approaching Logan. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely. "Well I'm glad to see you," she said with a little more ferocity than she had wanted. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Logan chuckled and wrapped his arms around the thin woman. Now this was the Jubes he remembered! He couldn't believe how good she felt in his arms. That thought led to another and soon he was noticing things he never had before. He could feel every soft curve of her against him. Her scent filled his senses and his heart began to pound faster. The silkiness of her hair against his skin made him shiver. Almost without realizing it, his hands started to drift from her upper back, slowing sliding downward. His voice was gruff and laced with barely restrained emotion. "Damn it Jubes, don't disappear on me again." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Jubilee had been about to reluctantly pull away when she felt his arms tighten, pulling her closer. Her heart began to pound. Or was that his heart? She couldn't tell and didn't care. A strange tingling sensation ran up her spine as she felt his hands sliding down her back. She felt lost in the heat of his body, dizzied by his musk. His stubble scraped across her cheek as he spoke. She wanted to reassure him that she'd never leave him again, but was afraid to speak and ruin this moment. Of course that was when Jean opened the front door. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Jean had sensed Jubilee's approach and had allowed time for the two old friends to greet each other. The new kids were still in the shower, but Logan was going to be late with breakfast already. Upset that she would have to interrupt Jubilee's welcome home, she knew she'd have to do just that. She opened the front door and saw the two old friends hugging. She was comforted that they had at least gotten to say hello. "Logan, it's getting late. Do you think you could finish your hello's later?" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The sound of Jean's voice broke Logan from the spell. He couldn't believe what he had been thinking. What he had almost done… He released Jubes and picked up a quick walk to the steps. "Right on it Red," he said as he passed her and into the mansion. He needed a beer. Badly. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Jubilee found herself alone on the driveway looking up at Wolvie's disappearing back and Jean's smiling face. She had always respected the older woman, but at that instant she wanted to smack the smile right off the red-heads face. Instead she smiled and headed back to the porch. "Hey Jean. Just let me bring my bag up to my room and I'll be down for breakfast. You and Chuck can grill me after I get a full stomach." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you've enjoyed this story and want to see more, cast your vote or send me an e-mail. I'd prefer both. *smile* The more good reviews I get the quicker I'll write the next chapter. Untamable Hearts Ch. 2 Gambit welcomed the morning with a cup of black coffee and a cigarette on the back porch. It had been two weeks since Jubilee’s return to the school, two weeks that Wolverine had been in a bad mood. Most of the X-Men didn’t see the connection that was so obvious to the Cajun. After all, he had years of experience with unattainable love. Which made him even more annoyed at Logan. How could the man be so stupid? A beautiful, intelligent young woman was making every effort to be noticed by the old grouch, and he was avoiding her just as fervently as she pursued. There was only one thing that annoyed Remy more then unrequited love and that was two people in love that were too damn stubborn to be the first to admit it. The only thing standing in their way was their own damn egos. Well, that was about to change. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Jubilee had no idea her secret had been discovered. She had been trying to attract Logan, that was true, but she certainly hadn’t been trying to advertise her own feelings. The idea of letting Logan know her feelings for him before she was sure he felt it as well made her cold with fear. It would be bad enough if he never returned her feelings. She didn’t think she could stand it if he gave her the ‘it’s just a crush’ speech. Her newest ploy was running laps around the mansion each morning dressed in skin tight yellow spandex shorts and an over-large t-shirt that fell over her shoulder when she ran. It had annoyed her when she hadn’t been able to get Logan to join her on these runs. In fact, he seemed to spend longer at the lake these days. Almost as if he were avoiding her. It was infuriating. She had even followed him to his favorite bar one night and challenged him to a game of pool. Things had started to go well, they had been joking at least, when some guy challenged the winner. Before Jubie had realized it she was surrounded by a bunch of cute college guys and Logan had left. She waved at Gambit as she passed the back porch on her last lap. He was up early this morning. Jubilee was worried about her old friend. Rogue had left a few days ago and Remy had been brooding. She didn’t know what was going on between those two, but it didn’t seem like the incorrigible Cajun was enjoying life much right now. She wondered if there was anything she could do. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Logan finished his cigar and slowly started back towards the mansion. It was time for him to beat some sense into the rugrats again. When Xavier had first put him in charge of teaching Self Defense Logan insisted they do it first thing in the morning. By now the kids had learned not to sneak breakfast before hand. Wolvie’s lessons were best learned on an empty stomach. His lesson plans were interrupted by two familiar scents. The Cajun was surprising at this early hour, but he was used to Jubilee being up and running by now. Unfortunately, that meant he’d have to time his approach. The last thing he needed was a distraction before class. And she had become very distracting lately… ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Remy had seen Logan disappear back into the tree line. His brow furrowed as he wondered what the man was up to. He didn’t have long to wait. As soon as Jubilee had rounded the corner of the mansion, Logan continued his approach. Remy finished the rest of his coffee to keep from glaring at his fellow X-Men. It was bad enough Logan was disappearing more and more, but to go that far out of his way to avoid bumping into the girl... Something had to be done about this situation before it drove the Cajun mad. He considered both of these people his friends. As a friend it was his job to help. So he would, the only way he knew how. Gambit returned Wolvie’s good-morning nod with one of his own. Ideas were beginning to form in his devious mind. Yes, he would help his friends…but there was no harm in having a little fun in the process. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ That afternoon found Jubilee sitting out by the pool trying to figure out what she was doing wrong. He had been so glad to see her when she came back, but since then he had treated her like…like nothing! Like just another student. He had never treated her like that and she didn’t know how to handle it. Maybe coming home had been a bad idea after all. Her musings were interrupted by Remy dropping a rose on her from behind. She looked up and giggled at the grinning Cajun. No matter how good her instincts got, he was always able to sneak up on her. She picked up the rose and twirled the thorn-less stem with her fingertips as he walked around to the front of her chair. He was carrying a large white box tied up with a bright pink ribbon and mischief seemed to ooze out of his every movement. There was no doubt that he was up to something. She was just glad to see him smile again. “What’s in the box Handsome?” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Remy placed the box on her lap and stood back to watch her open it. It had taken him all morning to get to the city, buy it, and get back. He just hoped he had made the right choice. Her style had changed quite a bit while she was gone. “Call it a late birthday present, petite. Remy thought he’d take you out t’night. Don’ you go breakin’ his heart an say non.” The expression on her face proved he hadn’t lost his touch. She had stood up to see the whole dress and her eyes sparkled in delight at what she saw. Remy was pleased to note the blue-black silk made her bright blue eyes look darker and more worldly. Once she put it on she would truly be stunning. For a moment he almost envied Logan the love of this fine woman. “Da reservation for eight, so Remy pick you up at seven. Don’t you go making Remy wait for you, or he might just come in after you.” He gave her a wink and left while she was still staring speechlessly at the dress. Her silence had been more sincere than any thanks could of been. This was going to be fun. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you’ve enjoyed this story and want to see more, cast your vote or send me an e-mail. I’d prefer both. *smile* The more good reviews I get the quicker I’ll write the next chapter. I’d like to dedicate this chapter to all the fans that kept writing to me for the past year or more. Your encouragement is what made this possible. I would also like to apologize for this being so long in the making. Many things happened in my life over the past year that kept me from returning to my writings. Indeed, if it hadn’t been for the continued requests for more, this chapter may never of been completed. I promise that the wait for the next chapter will not be so long. So keep those reviews coming in! They are what make me keep typing away.