WARNING:
THERE IS EXPLICIT SEX IN THIS STORY. I marked this clearly in the header. The sex is graphic, but all loving and consensual (and not that much worse than a typical romance novel). If reading sex scenes like that would offend you, please don't read this.

If you want to comment, send email to <luba@lubakmetyk.net>

Part 1 A Rude Awakening

Kitty Pryde woke up quite early, as was her usual habit. But this morning, as never before, she jerked upright immediately, phasing away instinctively as she felt the unfamiliar sensation of a warm body pressed tightly against her back, with a warm breath tickling her bare shoulder. She looked down in momentary confusion at the naked male form lying next to her, and then felt her face redden as the memories of their previous night came flooding back to her. But, at the same time, a sharp stab of hot desire coursed through the rest of her body at the mere sight of him, making her suddenly conscious of aches and itches and hollow yearning in places she'd never before felt such sensations, and that just made her even more self-conscious. She knew what she wanted, what she needed now, but she didn't know how to ask and she couldn't help wondering if he would want her again after their first time together, if she'd lived up to his expectations or if she'd disappointed him in some way.

Neither her long-running abortive crush on Peter Rasputin years ago nor her more recent unrequited crush on Alistair Stuart had prepared her in any way for a serious adult relationship. Kitty had buried away the resulting damage to her self-confidence as a woman, but her self-doubt insisted on reappearing at the most awkward times, and she had to wonder what Pete had thought of their lovemaking. After all, the former Black Air agent had obviously had considerable previous experience, most likely with equally knowledgeable partners. And he wasn't exactly notable for his tact or sensitivity -- he had gone out of his way to be rude and obnoxious to everyone ever since he'd first set foot on Muir weeks ago, assigned to Excalibur as an official observer. However, his attitude and behavior had seemed to mellow noticeably during their recent private adventure. It had been those brief glimpses of the person hiding under the abrasive outer shell -- his drive to help his friend Culley whatever it might take and his gruff concern for her which had never degenerated into condescending overprotectiveness, his rejection of his employers' hidden agenda as soon as they'd discovered it and his willingness to take decisive action to derail their schemes -- that had touched some deep core of her soul just as his physical touch had awakened primal instincts in her body the day before. She waited nervously for him to wake up, to see what he'd say, wondering whether he'd want her to stay, or if she should try to sneak out and away before he awoke, then realized it was too late for that.

Awakened by the arm he'd had wrapped over her falling through her phased form to thud into the bed, Pete Wisdom opened his eyes to see Kitty sitting up next to him. Her glorious chestnut hair was tousled and her enormous brown eyes, even bigger than usual now since the pupils were dilated with a bit of residual shock at finding herself in this situation, were still heavy-lidded with a mixture of sleepiness and dawning arousal. She was the most beautiful thing he could imagine, even if she had grabbed at the thin linen sheet tangled around their legs and pulled it up to cover more of herself as soon as she noticed his eyes opening.

He was entranced as he watched a delicate rosy blush spread from her face downward as he continued to stare back at her, and he was tempted to reach over and tug away the sheet she was clutching to her bare breasts to see how far down on her white skin the pink stain would reach. His blood wasn't rising to his face like hers, it was all racing downward to stiffen a certain limp portion of his anatomy to sudden rock hardness. Suddenly he didn't want to pry that sheet away from her gently, he wanted to tear it off and throw her back down on his bed and bury himself within her and drive to a triumphant, possessive climax. But Pete could see Kitty was on the verge of jumping up and fleeing in uncertain embarrassment, and he knew he had to be just as careful handling her this morning as he'd been the night before. And he had no intention of losing the best thing that had ever come to him through carelessness or lack of effort.

So he shifted his body around under his part of their covering sheet to conceal his rampant need and then forced himself to lie still, except for reaching out slowly with one hand to run his fingers up and down her arm, revelling in the feel of velvet soft skin covering firm taut muscle, smiling up at her. "Hullo, love."

"Hi, yourself." Kitty smiled back, but her voice and her expression both were a bit hesitant. "We should get up, or we'll miss breakfast."

"Sod breakfast." He kept his hand stroking her arm gently, steadily, thrilling inside to see her leaning in toward him slowly, slightly, as he extended his feather-light caress from her lower arm upward. "Let's you 'n' me stay right here, just us two, like."

"The others will be wondering where we are." But his husky growl had sent a shiver of arousal running up and down her spine, and Kitty made no effort to get up or move away from him as he moved his touch from her arm to her shoulder, although her expression still showed her uncertainty. "I don't know what we could tell them later..."

Wisdom pulled his hand away abruptly, wincing as he saw her jump at his sudden move. But he knew she was an honest open person who wouldn't want to lie to her friends, and that sounded like she didn't much relish the prospect of telling them the truth. "Look, Pryde, I gotta know... are you sorry fer wot happened?" Pete didn't want to think that that was the case, he hoped Kitty was just a bit nervous still, but the words came tumbling out. "You tryin' t' tell me you just got all carried away by the moment, like, an' now you want t' take it all back?" It wouldn't really surprise him to find her backing away from him in the cold clear light of day, but it *did* surprise him how much that idea hurt, making him realize just how much her companionship and acceptance had come to matter to him. But he figured he'd be best off pushing her to confront her feelings now, rather than later or never, even if that risked her changing her mind.

"No!" Kitty's automatic protest was as much against the bitter tone in his voice as at his words, the acrid note that had disappeared from his replies sometime during their trip to London. She hadn't actually noticed at the time, she'd just enjoyed being with him without pausing to analyze why, and she didn't ever want to be the one responsible for its return. "Of course I don't want to take anything back!" It hadn't occurred to her he might take her awkward self-consciousness as regret; that was the last thing she wanted him to think. She reached out to him in turn, running her hand along his jawline, the dark stubble tickling her palm, then leaving her hand resting on his cheek. He turned his head to nuzzle at her palm and fingers, as she went on more quietly, "Pete, last night was just so incredible... I loved every minute of it, you stupid idiot, how could I be sorry for what happened?"

Wisdom lifted his head from her hand to stare at her with those vivid blue eyes that again were drawing her in closer and closer, like a magnet. "Wot's wrong, then, love?" He was almost positive now that Kitty did want him too, still, but he wanted her to admit that, to both of them.

"Nothing!" But, as Pete continued to regard her skeptically, without saying anything more, Kitty had to face up to the fact that her automatic denial hadn't sounded very convincing to either of them. She flushed, and stammered on, "It's just... I need -- I mean, I want... I'm just not sure what to do... You know what you're doing, Pete, so you knew exactly what you were doing last night but I didn't -- don't, really, still... and it doesn't feel right, I feel like I'm cheating you or something..."

"An' you don't like not knowin' somethin', do you, love?" Wisdom teased her lightly, his hand brushing her hair back from her face gently. His heart had soared at her stumbling declaration, and he felt like there wasn't any problem he couldn't handle, as long as he knew she was still willing to be with him. Her obvious concern for his reaction touched him to the quick, where nothing and no one had been able to reach in longer than he could remember, and it made him ache to see her hesitancy, so unlike her usual self-confident persona, even as he tried to soothe and relax her. "Makes you feel like you're not in control, so you want to sneak off an' look up the soddin' right answer in some book or computer, right? Well, there ain't no how-to book on love, Kitty. The best way t' learn is just by doin' it." He stroked her flushed cheek softly with his fingertips, stretching his thumb out to run it lightly over her moist, slightly parted lips, smoothing out the little indentations her teeth had left while gnawing at them nervously. "An' I don't want you goin' off studyin' over some friggin' sex manual fer no fancy mechanical tricks, you just do what feels natural t' you, see..." As his feeble joke fell flat, Wisdom could still recall the self-doubt lurking in her eyes, those big expressive brown eyes that always reflected her inner soul so perfectly. "But, yeah, yer right, love, all o' that bleedin' great experience I got does help -- it helps me realize I'm the luckiest bloke alive, I am, t' have you here. So how about we stay here, all nice an' cozy like, see, an' you let me share some o' that experience with you? On account o' I'll not be wantin' to share it with anyone else 'ceptin' you, ever again."

Kitty had looked away from his intent blue eyes, not sure she could bear to see his reaction to her stuttered admission, staring downward at his bare chest instead, almost mesmerized by its almost imperceptible steady rise and fall. But, as Pete responded so reassuringly, her eyes were drawn upward again until they fixed on his mouth, open and moving and tempting, so close to hers. She wasn't aware of leaning closer and closer to him where he lay on the bed, making no overt move to seduce her other than to gently stroke her arm or shoulder or face. And then she was so close that her lips touched his lightly just after he fell silent, and she gave a little moan as she collapsed down to press against him tightly.

Wisdom wrapped his arms around her as she settled onto his body and into the kiss, his mouth opening hers so that their tongues could entwine. As he ran his hands up and down the length of her svelte bare back, Pete spared just an instant to be grateful that the sheet had ended up trapped between their bodies, or he might not have been able to hang onto the last remnant of his tenuous and sorely-taxed self-control. Still fighting his instinctive need to flip them over and drive himself into her, he managed to hold back, wanting to let her set whatever pace she found comfortable.

Kitty had let go of her convulsive grip on the bedsheet, finally, to run her fingers up into his thick black hair, not that she needed to hold him to the kiss, which had immediately turned from that initial light contact to a full and active meeting of lips and teeth and tongues. She lifted her head up finally, after several long moments, to smile down at him and murmur, "That felt pretty natural to me -- how'd it seem to you?"

She could feel his low chuckle through his skin as much as hear it. "You got nothin' t' worry about, love -- I think you got a natural talent fer this..." And it took only the merest hint of pressure from his hand run up her back to her neck and into her thick hair to bring her head back down until he could claim her mouth again.

Continued in Part 2 A Mismatch Made in Heaven