Summary: Hmm, so Rogue kissed (and licked) John. What happens now?

Pairing: Duh, it's John/Rogue people! Bobby's still in the picture, though conveniently not in the room with them. *nudge, nudge, wink, wink*

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. All belong to Marvel, Brian Singer, Stan Lee, and probably a bunch of other filthy rich folks.

A/N: I'm really sorry that it took me SOOO BLOODY LONG to update. The plot's been in my head for ages, but I hadn't been able to put it down on paper. Eh, blame it on that nasty, old, bitch virus called 'the writer's block'. Anyway, thank you so much for the reviews, praise, threats, and emails encouraging me to continue. You have no idea how flattering it is to me.

A/N2: I hope I haven't made a reviewer named 'jjjjjjkkkkkkk' really fail history. That'd be ironic, especially since history's my favorite subject and I wrote the last chapter while working on a history paper.

Chapter 4: Frenzy and Bold Decisions.

Not in her most creative imaginations did Rogue picture kissing John tonight.

But here she was, stuck in a room, mutation rendered harmless by a serum, and making out with her boyfriend's former best pal.

At first, the kiss was slow and awkward – like they were two people who were very new at this and didn't really know how to proceed – but it soon grew more passionate as both found their rhythm. While John caressed the sides of her face, Rogue nibbled on his lips.

The self-professed pyromaniac soon found that he couldn't even put a thought together. His mind was blocked by this 'euphoric' feeling and this desire to keep on kissing her. And, considering her long and permanent abstention from human touch, Rogue wasn't any different. Indeed, she was, uh, VERY EAGER to explore this new 'activity'. Unfortunately, her newfound enthusiasm would soon cost the both of them gravely, for she had just gone and bitten off a bit of John's lips.

The spell, or whatever it was that caused these two conveniently-stuck individuals to suck face, was unceremoniously broken by a loud yowl of pain.

"Ow!" John brought one hand to his lips and – sure enough – found fresh, bright red blood staining the tips of his fingers.

As if burnt (no pun intended), Rogue jumped back from John, looking like she just had the shock of her life. She was staring wildly at the space between them, and then at John, as if asking for a confirmation of what just happened. Seemed pointless though, seeing as they were both healthily flushed and breathless.

John's face turned from shock to amusement as the wheels in his bran began to turn once more. He looked at Rogue, licked the blood off his lips, and smirked, "Gee, Rogue. I never knew that you liked it rough."

Rogue continued to stare blankly at John for about a nanosecond… and then snapped. Hyperventilating, she began to chant, "Oh my God. What the hell did I do?" under her breath, while pacing around the room, fanning herself.

John said under his breath, "I knew that she'd freak out…" He sighed and called out to her, "Rogue… Rogue! Would you relax?"

Rogue turned to look at John, her eyes bulging, her face still tomato-red. "Relax? RELAX?!? Do you realize what I just did? I kissed you! You kissed me! We kissed! It was a whole big kissing… FRENZY!" With each yelled sentence, her hyperventilating grew worse.

Then, as the impact of her deed sank in, she began to mutter to herself, completely ignoring John, "Oh my God, I've just cheated on my boyfriend. I'll never be able to look at Bobby again. I can never go back to the school if this ever gets out. I'll be the new school ho. 'Took the title right out of Jubilee's hands. And with the school jackass, out of all people! Oh, this is just great…"

Rogue continued rambling while John looked on, feeling amused.

My sentiments exactly, Rogue. Great. Just great. This could go on all night…

What the hell was that anyway?

Hey, she kissed me. So technically, she wanted this to happen. I didn't initiate it – though God knows I would've wanted to – there is no way that she'd peg this on me, John thought as he heard Rogue say, more to herself than to him, "And the dumb-ass didn't even try to stop me…"

John glared at her, but said nothing. I DID try to stop you, y'know? I even brought up Bobby's name. But, NOOO… you WANTED to kiss me.

The pyromaniac began to unconsciously flick-and-switch his zippo as he processed his thoughts.

I doubt that she even remembered her precious Bobby five minutes ago….But now she just GOTTA bring ice-balls back into the picture.

Christ, she's gonna drive a guy insane by all these mixed signals!

John touched his lips again, remembering the incredible sensation of having her lips completely pressed up against his. He knew that she felt it too and it was then that everything became clear to him.

He wanted to taste her again. It was as simple as that. He wanted to feel that connection, that heat, or whatever it was that they had, that made him feel exhilarated, made him feel alive…

And he was dead sure that it wasn't just him.

He came to a very bold decision.

Well, here goes nothing, he thought as he took a deep breath and slowly approached Rogue.

The aforementioned Southern belle, meanwhile, was still busy pacing and panicking that she didn't even notice John until he was close enough to grab one of her hands.

She stopped dead in her tracks, "What are you doing?"

"'Trying to stop you, of course. The pacing and the rambling are making me dizzy."

John was looking at her straight in the eye and Rogue found that unnerving. She averted her gaze, but John brought his other hand up to her face and made her look at him.

Rogue didn't miss the pleasant sensation of feeling contact with John's warm skin. Her sensible part told her to back away though. And so she did, taking a step back and detaching herself from him. "What do you want, John?"

"I should think that it's quite obvious, Rogue." He took one step forward and was closing in on her again.

"Wh-What are you talking about?"

One step back, one step forward.

"This," he said as he traced his fingers across her cheek. "I know you like feeling this, Rogue. And it's not just caused by your general desire to touch. You like feeling ME touch YOU."

"How very typically cocky of you, John," she tried to chuckle, but the nervousness in her voice came out loud and clear. "Look, I don't know what came over me, but it sure as hell won't happen again. So why don't you just back away from me and go sit your butt down in that corner? It was a mistake, okay?" She backed away, but again, John followed.

"It wasn't a mistake, Rogue. And you know perfectly well what that was. Your instinct took over. For once in your life, it was you – COMPLETELY you – controlling your body. It wasn't Magneto, or Wolverine, or anyone else telling you what to do. You kissed me because you wanted to. Because you felt this connection, this heat, with me that you've never felt before…"

John brought her hands to his mouth and lightly touched it with his lips. "I know this, Rogue, because I felt it too."

Rogue shivered and felt this annoyingly-unexplainable knot twisting in her stomach. She felt naked… exposed… because John could see right through her and laid bare her thoughts. And with each kiss that he planted on her hands, her earlier resolve to shove him back on his ass was melting away significantly. She whispered the next few words, not willing to risk trembling, "John, we can't do this. It would be wrong. Bobby is…"

"Not here?"

"Yes, but he's probably in the next room. He's going to bust in anytime soon…"

"Well, what if he doesn't? Are you seriously going to waste your only chance to touch because of ice-block?"

"John, what I have with Bobby is special. He makes me feel safe. What I have with you… Well I'm not really sure what we have… This is…"

Rogue did not realize that John had backed her up against the wall. She was trapped. His face was only separated from hers by mere inches. The heat from his body was making it hard for her to think.

"Let me make it simple for you, Rogue." He looked at her straight in the eye, "Tell me you don't feel this and I'll back away from you right now." John caressed the side of her face with the back of his hand. Ever so gently, he slid that hand down her neck.

Rogue knew that she should resist, that she should push him back and yell at him for having the nerve to do that. But she didn't. John's simple touch had caused her body to react in ways she deemed it really shouldn't have. The knot in her stomach tightened, her heart beat faster, and her breaths shortened. On top of that, she was finding it mighty difficult to shift her gaze from his lips.

She struggled with the next few words, "I c-c-can't…"

John leaned in, "Good, 'cause I can't back away."

And with that, he brought his lips crashing down on hers. Given her uncertainty moments before, it was surprising that Rogue was immediately into this. She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him even closer, deepening the kiss. She could feel his tongue pushing through her mouth and she allowed him access. Once again, she tasted that smokey, peculiar, John-taste, which she found exhilarating. She'd always thought that she'd hate having someone push their tongue down her throat, but John was amazingly, um, 'tasty' that she couldn't help but groan in appreciation.

The fire-manipulator responded by slamming her against the wall. He tangled one hand in her hair – hair that was usually kept in a pristine ponytail, to John's annoyance, but was now hanging messily around her face – and let the other massage her burning cheeks.

The kiss grew hungrier with each second. Rogue was starting to feel literally hot. She felt that there was too much material separating them. She brought her hands down his back until they found the hem of his shirt. She tugged at it, cherishing the feel of John's overheated skin as she slipped her hands underneath the fabric.

Then, suddenly, as Rogue desired nothing more than to take it further, John broke the kiss.

Rogue looked at him questioningly, feeling cold air where his lips had been seconds before. She had never wanted anything more in her life.

John cupped her face and took one long evaluative look at her as he calmed his breaths, "The ball's in your court now."

And then he smirked at her before backing away, flicking his zippo casually, and coming down to sit at one corner of the room.

Rogue looked at him like a lost little child.

Well, more like a lost, horny, teenager, actually.

Uh… the point was Rogue looked like she wanted nothing more than to pounce on John.

But she still had enough self-restraint to not do that.

The first thing that she noticed was how cold she was. The heat that she felt from being in such proximity to John was both dizzying and intoxicating. She had trouble thinking and was relying on instinct (hence with the pouncing). But as she calmed down, and as sweet oxygen filtered through her system, her head began to clear.

'Leading her to feel completely and utterly… IRRITATED.

Rogue wondered if it's possible to want to kiss AND punch someone at the same time.

How dare him! How could he do this to me? Now, what the hell am I supposed to do?

Then, for the first time since "the kissing frenzy" – as she aptly put it – began, Rogue was able to hear the voices in her head once more. It seemed that inner-Marie had loosened her autocratic hold to allow them put in their cents' worth.

Logan was actually suggesting that Rogue go over to John and finish what they started ("You obviously want this, kid. I ain't sticking around for any more of your moral debates. You just do what you gotta do… Plus, the bad boy should get the girl for a change.").

Magneto, who earlier showed no interest in the squabbles of "teenagers" was, well, still not interested. But he did give real-life John a small, coy praise for being able to "give himself the cold shower", which was cleverly "driving poor, young Marie crazy."

Bobby was still passed out in her head and so was unable to comment.

Rogue had expected some cleverly-assembled, suggestive remarks from John-in-her-head. But he just sat there calmly and shrugged, "You know what I think you should do."

And deep down, Rogue also knew what she, MARIE, wanted to do. It had come out loud and clear several times tonight. She looked at John and knew that she could never back away from this. She came to a very bold decision.

Pushing all thoughts out of her mind, Rogue strode over to John in three hurried steps, pulled him to his feet, looked at him silently for a second… and then captured his lips with her very own.

All that pent-up desire and frustration was producing a kiss that was both fast and hungry. Rogue sucked and bit as John backed her away towards the island in the middle of the room. She was surprised to feel her back bump against the counter that she looked up at John.

"You know that this is only sex, right?"

John answered by cupping her buttocks and lifting her onto the island. She smiled and wrapped her legs around his waist before continuing with the kiss. The heat was now unbearable and Rogue sneaked her hands underneath his shirt once more. She pulled the garment over his head, breaking the kiss for a second.

It was the first time that Rogue had been near to so much of someone else's skin. She traced her hands all over his exposed top half, deciding that she'd like to feel her own skin against it.

She interrupted John's exploration of her neck to pull her tank top over her head. He showed his appreciation by continuing with his activity, now with a bigger, uh, 'working area'.

Rogue scooted back on the counter, pulling John with her until he was lying on top of her.

They looked at each other for a second, taking in their new shared intimacy, before Rogue reached in and kissed him with the sweetest kiss she'd given him tonight.

They continued to move at a slower pace, adjusting to each other's rhythms before being completely lost in the moment.

A/N: Okay, now you know why it took me such a long time to finish this. I honestly HATE writing romantic moments. But I knew it had to be done for this story. Some people had suggested angst by having Bobby bust into them during a kiss, but I thought that they deserved to be happy for once. But since I can't write smut, you all just gotta use your imaginations, okay? Hehehe…

Now, from where I left it, it looked like Rogue was only using John as a piece of meat. Whaddya all think? Should she see something different in him or should she just go back to Bobby like nothing changed? I'd like to hear your ideas.

I still feel sorry for Bobby. At the risk of sounding 'Oprah', I just wanna say that free sex and infidelity are very bad things, folks! But, hey, I suppose that's the appeal of ryro and why it works so well. Eh, I think way too much. As usual with my writings, it is currently 1.45 in the morning.