Scott had a sudden, strong awareness of his body. It was no wonder, after what he'd put it through, but no, this was different. Not the stingingly sweet feel of his body after lovemaking, drained but happy, relaxingly agitated and slowly settling. This was the bulging heat of a work-out session.
He could smell ozone about him, sweat and adrenaline, but his heartbeat was deep and even. He hadn't been truly in danger, trusting to the Danger Room's safeguards. And now he was in one of the mansion's bespoke bathrooms, about to take a shower, the cool water soothing the stubborn warmth of his muscles, a young man's muscles, him in the prime of his life.
He looked at himself in the mirror, admiring his younger self's musculature. Vain, he knew, and not too rationalâhe'd lost little muscle mass since those days, they hadn't been
that
long ago, and it was hard to recall all the almost
playful
business with Gambit and Cable and Bishop and not think how profoundly unhappy he'd been. Or at least, would be. Once he had time to think. There was his problem: thinking.
"Mutant fashion, though," he recalled. "I can't believe I got Logan to wear blue underwear on the outside..."
"Oh, he would've done anything for me," Jean said. "Not that you noticed, with Psylocke throwing herself at you."
"And us being newlyweds, too. Maybe that should've been a warning sign."
"Maybe your last marriage should've been a warning sign," Jean pouted. "But then, when it was me you cheated with..."
"I think now it's both me and Madelyne that cheated with you."
"Yes," Jean grinned haphazardly. "That was fun, no? And to think I would've felt guilty over such a thing."
"No. You wouldn't have."
"You're right. Maybe I just would've been worried about you feeling guilty... or I would've thought how I was supposed to feel guilty..." Jean shook her head. Kissed his cheek. "You're filthy, husband mine. Get in the shower."
"What was that about Psylocke?"
"What was that about Namor?"
Scott winced and obediently disrobed, taking a length of cloth from his pocket to tie around his eyes. Not much point in getting his glasses wet. Moving by touch and familiarity, he got into the gargantuan shower stall, found the dial, and cranked it to a bracing cold gush against his overheated muscles.
He felt it all come off himâtwo hundred curls with the seventy-five bar, two hundred squat thrusts with the two-hundred pound, endless minutes under the chest machine to see how long he could take those two hundred more pounds of dead weight. He always felt swollen with muscles afterward, bulging with it, and that heat ferociously resisted the cold water. He felt like red-hot metal being cooled, fresh from a smithy's hammer. He imagined if it weren't for the blindfold, he'd be able to see steam rising off his muscles as they slowly lost their tension, their torque, becoming tepid masses of flesh again and not the powerful machinery they had briefly been.
Before he could shiver, he swung the dial around, now dousing himself with hot water. It felt even better on his numb, insensate muscles, reviving them, breathing new life into his flesh, pitching him up and flooding him with a new awareness, waking him up from the languor of the adrenaline high crash. He heard every drop of the shower spray upon the mosaic of tiles, felt every bead of water caressing his skin, his member growing half-hard with the sheer rush of sensation.
Groaning, Scott unerringly found the bottle of shampoo, popped the cap open with his thumb, and doused his scalp in it, then began using his fingers to grind it into his hair. He could feel the humidity of the gales of steam flurrying about the stall, condensation no doubt growing thick on the otherwise clear glass.
"Oops. I walked in on you," Betsy Braddock said unapologetically, her British accent clear and cool, chilled and slightlyy head like the very best wine.
Scott could just imagine herâhe'd seen her often enough, and enough of her
often
. The long, lean, athletic body with its muscular thighs, tapering legs, something delicate, almost balletic about the dainty feet that now squelched wetly, bare, upon the tiled floor. Her long, purple hair unfurling proudly from her tattooed face, with its chillingly precise lines, the cruel symmetry of it evident in her fierce smiles, her haughty stares. She could give Emma a run for her money in that department. But where Emma was pale and porcelain, Betsy was gold, the toning of her race and her training supplemented by a tan she worked at for hours, practicing her telepathy and telekinesis while she let the sun ripen a shamelessly exposed body.
And her trim hips and pert ass belied the exuberance of her breasts, full and heaving, befitting the musculature of her biceps and strong shoulders. High-set and firm, there was always a delectable contrastâher ass almost entirely exposed by the thong that bottomed her uniform, while her breasts, supple as they were, were completely hiddenâif you could say such a tight costume really hid them. The comparative modesty neighboring such wanton exhibition had always struck Scott as particularly erotic, a sort of open warning or challengeâthat she was a telepath and deigned to make herself... accessible, but once the floodgates were open, you'd be drowned in her.
Jean could, of course, read his thoughtsâat the moment, he supposed she
was
his thoughts. "Every wife worries about her husband and an Asian hooker," she sighed.
Scott mentally shushed her;
be nice
. "Betsy," he greeted amicably, cleaning his hands off in the shower spray. "Take a wrong turn?"
"I'm in a real rush," Betsy said, louche enough that he could just picture the smile on her face. She was making absolutely no effort to convince him that her story held water. "And all the other bathrooms are occupied. You mind if I use your shower? I mean, it is pretty big..."
Scott could feel her eyes on him, and she wasn't looking for tattoos. "Sure, Betsy. Come on inâwater's fine."
"Mmm. Finally starting to see reason." He heard the many straps of Betsy's costume come undone, whispers of silk on silk as she took off more and more.
"I can't see much of anything at the moment," Scott said. "So it's not like you have anything to be embarrassed about."
"Oh, I certainly don't. With or without ruby quartz." He heard the slap of her costume against the ground.