NOTE - This book is the third in the Natasha of Asgard series, after The Q Word and The Tail of the Dragon. You can read it on your own if you like, but you'll miss how the characters arrived at this point.

Rated M for smut and some violence.

1. Natasha of Asgard

When Loki walked into the tower room, his wife was already there leaning out of the window with a telescope in her hands. He crept up behind her, barely breathing as he reached out to touch the curve of her backside, temptingly close under a single fold of thin silk.

"Don't grab my ass just now, Loki," Natasha warned without turning around. "I'm observing."

He sidled a bit closer. "Perhaps I am observing as well." Each day Natasha wore a different set of racy underthings, and he was dying to know what was under her skirt. It was like an unopened present just waiting for him.

She crossed one foot over the other and he got a glimpse of satin slippers tied with ribbons as well as her seamed stockings. "The fields below have started to yield their crops, and I wanted to see if there was something we could do to increase your farms' output here near the castle. The people need more food and wealth, and if I could perhaps introduce better fertilization, a fallow system, or mineralizing crops… what are you doing?"

Unable to help himself, Loki started to raise the layers of her dress. "I am listening to these very interesting ideas of yours. Fertilization, you say? Fascinating." The truth was he craved the feeling of her flesh next to his. She felt so alive, so filled with energy and calm self-possession.

Natasha twitched the material from his fingers. "You're such a fraud. Good thing you're sort of cute - in a certain light, at least."

"It is your fault, darling. You hide these presents from me each day and I just cannot wait to see what is inside." With one wave of his hand her skirt disappeared in the back, revealing the stockings, garters, and the fancy shoes. "Hm, most appealing. How could you expect me to wait? What a silly idea to try and hide this."

"Another dress ruined! I suppose you never had Christmas, so Mama Frigga didn't have to try and hide your presents. You'd be the sort of dreadful child to go and root them out in October…oh, I must say that feels very nice."

Loki breathed with laughter and passion right in her ear. "What happened to your underclothes, you naughty girl? No, do not try to turn around. I have been thinking about your derriere all morning – so round, so tempting…" So alive, he mused as slid his hand between her legs. The real truth was at times he could imagine a future bleak with loneliness, when Natasha would be white, cold, and still. When those visions assailed him the only cure was to find her and connect their bodies, to reassure himself she was his, she was next to him, she would be there for many years to come.

"If by underclothes you mean panties, perhaps I forgot them when I was trying to run away from you this morning to get dressed. If you insist on chasing me while I get my clothes on you can't expect me to – damn it, Loki! Now? Really?"

Her husband leaned over and bit her neck sharply enough to make her squeal. "Just keep looking out of the window, darling, and I will take care of things here. This, for example – do you keep getting tighter? Ooh, and warmer? You will be the death of me."

Natasha put down her telescope, leaned back into his thrusts, and gasped. "And do you keep getting bigger? And more passionate? I thought by now you might be slowing down – oh, my."

"Oh, my," he echoed. "Just think, anyone spying us from those fields of yours would think we are a respectable pair, certainly not coupling in plain sight by the light of day…"

The thought must have excited her beyond reason; Loki groaned as she flung her head back, eyes slitted with pleasure, and pushed her firm bottom against him. "Now!" she screamed. "Do me now!"

"Now," he growled and bit her again as he took his wife in the soft light from the window, spilling himself into the flesh he loved beyond all telling.

Dressed in a new gown and silk slippers, Natasha trailed into the large study she shared with Loki. "A delivery has arrived. More wedding presents."

He looked up from his book. "Oh? That sounds tedious. Probably more mounted bilgesnipe, if I know the Aesir."

"And diadems. Seriously – what do you do with a diadem?"

"I think you are supposed to put it on your head," he answered cautiously.

"Hm. Now, if they sent me fertilizer for the farms, or perhaps garters or stockings, that would come in handy – unless you can use a diadem as a garter. And don't start to get ideas, Loki - stay right there and let me breathe. In fact, I just made up a new rule – you're not allowed to attack me again until I get one thing accomplished in between bouts of getting laid."

"Rules! Those are made to be broken, by me at any rate… oh, very well."

"Shift over," Natasha ordered and squeezed next to him in the large armchair. Instantly their cat, Blot, jumped up and began to rub its head against Loki's elbow.

"Why does the creature always insist on climbing up on me?" Loki wondered.

"Because you don't pay any attention to him." She scratched the cat between his ears, and Blot assumed a smug smile. "Cats love people who play hard to get. And now, let's get the presents over with. C'mon, you do this pile and I'll work on these."

Loki groaned, put his book to one side and pulled the lid off a huge box. "See? This is bilgesnipe, just as I conjectured. Well, its horns at least."

"Maybe you can keep them as spares," Natasha snickered. "And here is a diadem, just as I guessed. Amazing, isn't it? Don't the Aesir use towels? Where do you buy a towel in Asgard anyway? Ooh, look – books!" Eagerly she held up a pile of volumes. "Those will come in handy – but what have you got there? You seem thunderstruck."

Loki sat very still, holding a small casket. "It is from the All-Father."

He showed the contents to her, and she frowned. "Apples! That's - interesting. Never saw those on any registry list before…Loki, what is the matter?"

"They are not just apples." He held one up, examined it in the candlelight, and his voice became a whisper. "See how it glows to look almost golden? These are the apples of Idunn."

"Oh." Natasha cautiously brushed the fruit with one finger, and their eyes met. "Loki, what does this mean?"

Reverently he put the apple back into the casket, closed the lid, and placed the box on the table before he crushed her into his arms. "It means I can give you immortality, as is the dearest wish of my heart!" His voice sparkled with excitement. She tried to speak but he took her face in his hands and stared into her eyes intently. "I try not to, Natasha, but often I picture you not moving – not breathing – taken from me for all time. This means I do not have to worry any longer…darling, this is the greatest gift anyone could have given me."

Natasha disentangled herself and looked at the casket. "Are you certain it's from the All-Father?"

"Here is his letter. Take a look for yourself – it is marked with his royal seal."

"Hm." She held up the parchment. "I feel funny about this - maybe because I have been bio-engineered already. I really don't want to mess around with my DNA any more than it already has been."

"No, hang on just a minute." Loki stood and flung out one arm. "You cannot compare the feeble medicinal compounds of Midgard with this. These are the apples of Idunn! I was actually scheming to steal some for you myself soon, but I was already caught doing that as a youth and it would be incredibly difficult to try it again. To have them delivered straight to my castle, to our door, is a wonder beyond all telling!"

"To have them delivered to our door is suspicious beyond all telling," Natasha countered. "Wouldn't the All-Father bring them himself if they are as precious as you say?"

"I doubt the All-Father will ever visit my castle. In any case, you have nothing to fear – I will bite your apple first to make certain it is safe."

She rose and walked in a circle. "It just doesn't feel right. Loki, we are lucky to have any time together as it is. Can't we just be happy with that?"

A fevered, desperate look came into his eye. "No! I cannot sleep at night. The thoughts torture me… you simply cannot understand how short these days together are. They might seem endless to you, but having already lived for centuries, they flash through my fingers like smoke and I cannot hold onto them."

"Okay, hush now." Natasha put her arms around him and forced him to stop so she could kiss the worried lines on his forehead. "Don't work yourself into a fury and have a fit. If you do, you'll waste some of the time we do have, Loki."

"Do not try to placate me. I fail to see why you will not simply eat one small apple. What could be the harm?"

"Oh, dear, now you're getting angry." Natasha sat again and regarded him with a twinkle. "Next you'll stride around the room wearing holes in the new carpet or even worse, call me 'Madam'." Loki stopped, his mouth open. "See?" she continued. "You were about to say it just now, weren't you?"

"Maybe," he replied haughtily. Her twinkle increased, and at last he burst out laughing. "But this is what I mean!" he said once he sobered. "Who else knows me so well? I am afraid…" He got on one knee in front of her and reached for her hands. "I am afraid of myself, of what I might do if you are not with me any longer."

"But I think you're not giving me enough credit. Bruce told us we have several centuries left at least, which might be just enough time to teach you not to wreak havoc on the Nine Realms." She gave him her secret smile. "Let's stop worrying about this for now and finish the other gifts. In the morning we can talk about it again over breakfast."

"Over breakfast," Loki echoed softly. "Very well, darling – I will listen to what you say."

That night he made love to her again and again, as though he could not get enough. Natasha displayed her extreme flexibility, stretching her legs over his shoulders, bowing her body into a perfect arch, undulating her hips to tease him to more and more peaks. When at last they both exploded in final surrender, shivering so violently she could barely hold him in her arms, he gasped words of love into her ear until she fell asleep.

She awoke a few hours later. Loki was shouting, screaming her name and thrashing among the pillows. "Hey," she said softly. "Loki."

"Natasha!" He sat up and looked straight ahead with unseeing eyes. When she carefully placed one hand on his chest he wrapped his long arms around her waist and put his face in her lap.

"Shhh," she soothed him. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here."

In the morning he woke her with a tray filled with her favourite just-baked bread, fruit, and a goblet of something cold. Blot instantly jumped up and padded over to investigate. "What's the occasion?" Natasha asked, pushing her hair behind her ears.

"Perhaps I have taken your advice to live life to the fullest." Loki winked at her. "Eat up, darling, and perhaps we can take a ride through those fields of yours later."

"Hm." Natasha wasn't one for breakfast in bed, but she did want to work on what she called the 'Castle Loki Project'. "Very well, but I also want to review the accounts, go over hiring staff, and I think we may need a hospital nearby eventually for safer childbirth."

"Yes, yes." Loki sat on the edge of the bed and fixed her with his gaze.

She put down her bread. "Okay, what is it?"

"Nothing, love. Did you not mention we needed to visit the Palace in the capital as well?"

"We do, but it doesn't have to be today…" Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she took a sip from the goblet. "I do need to send a message to Midgard with Thor, though, and Jane was promising…" Natasha broke off and her eyes widened. "Loki, what's in this drink?"

He leaned forward and curled his fingers around her ankle under the blankets. "Do you like it? To tell you the truth, I added something special to it. Do not be angry with me – I tasted the apple myself first, just as I vowed."

"What did you do?" she gasped. "I feel weird. Something's wrong." It seemed the room in front of her was flashing in and out of reality, as though she had taken some strange hallucinogen.

"I put in just one drop," he vowed. "It might be odd for a minute, but – Natasha!"

"What's happening? I can't see you!" The room in front of her wavered, and she felt everything grow fuzzy. The last thing she saw was Loki's look of horror. She heard him screaming her name as everything turned white, dissolved, disappeared.

After a period of blank nothing, she opened her eyes again. Her clothes were rough and homespun, and thick grey clouds gathered overhead. For some reason she lay on a hill looking at the sky, only certain of one thing: she was Natasha of Asgard no longer.