A/N: The song used was Wicked Games, by Parra for Cuva featuring Anna Naklab. This story was also written for That Song Project, but since the project is down and I mostly forgot the guidelines I will probably turn it into a personal project and post my guidelines on my profile when I get a chance…
Trigger warning.
Wicked Games
Lisbeth and Mikael were meeting for the first time in what seemed like ages. She had dropped from the face of the Earth right after her trial was over. Now, seven months later, she was back at Sweden. The press had quietened down but she took no chances and entered the country with a Russian passport and hair on her shoulders length, with the name of Natalia Dobranova.
Russia would never be her favorite country in the world and she would rather stay far away from there and anything remotely related, but she would have to deal with her past later, since it currently was the easier way for her to go back to her country, raising as few questions possible.
As she got closer to her apartment, she steeled her resolve that she would not get in touch with Super Blomkvist. She decided to keep her distance once and for all; she would stick to that decision even if she eventually had to move from Stockholm for good. There was nothing keeping her there anyway… well, except for Palmgren.
Of course, she wasn't able to stick to it because at the first trip she did to a close by market, she ran into the journalist. After seeing him, it became hard for her to move away and eventually he spotted her. She registered his look of surprise and after the half smile that he was giving her, she knew that her resolve was lost.
Mikael suggested they should go have some beers on her apartment – where he very much liked to reside too – but, as he expected, she disagreed and they decided to go to a nearby pub. It was mostly Mikael that was doing the talking, but sometimes Lisbeth contributed. They steered clear of the heavy subjects, sticking to what they had been doing in the recent months. As the hours ticked by, the more alcohol they ingested, the more Lisbeth began to talk and the more heated the conversation became.
"The world was on fire and no one could save me but you. It's strange what desire will make foolish people do."
"From the attitude you have been showing me and the way you looked at the bartender when he opened his mouth to say something, probably about recognizing you, it shows me that you have not changed at all in the last months, Lisbeth." She raised a defiant eyebrow at him.
"What are you getting at, Mikael? Are you trying to say that I should trust people? Is that it? Because that worked out so well so far."
He smirked at her sarcasm; he had said that only to annoy her. She had changed somewhat, but at the same time she was the same Pippi he knew. He wondered how long it would take until she exploded on him.
"You should try to socialize. I am just saying that life would be funnier if you tried to blend in. Life is rather annoying when you are annoyed."
Lisbeth barely let him finish his sentence before talking back.
"Yes, I may not socialize, but what about you who can't have a monogamous relationship? You are always going back to your cheap whore, Erika." She quickly took an intake of air and continued. "You go a long way to avoid being annoyed, Super Blomkvist. You cheated on your wife and almost contributed to the ending of another marriage. So tell me, is life funnier after all?"
"I'd never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you, I'd never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you."
It honestly had nothing to do with the current subject and maybe it had been all the gin tonics she was drinking, but what he said last made her… annoyed. It annoyed her that he thought he knew what was best for her life. It annoyed her to think that his way of not letting life get boring was to spend time with his precious Erica. Erica annoyed Lisbeth. A lot.
He stared at her intently and a shadow covered his eyes. For a moment she thought he would slap her but he raised his glass and finished his whisky. He got up from their table, taking his cigarettes along and walked to the cold outside.
He left behind the smell of cigarettes, alcohol and spite, Lisbeth thought as she rubbed her nose. It was his trail of virility, she figured.
Lisbeth took a deep breath to calm down. She had missed Mikael after all and she wasn't keen on letting him go just because she was jealous of Erica. She finished her drink and got up, walking outside after him.
He was just finishing his cigarette and when he saw her walking towards him, he offered her one and took another to himself. They walked to her apartment in silence and Lisbeth only talked to him when they were inside.
"You just looked like you were going to hit me."
Mikael was quiet for a few minutes, watching her face and trying to figure out what she was thinking. Initially he thought she would apologize, but that wasn't Lisbeth's style.
"Did you really think I would do that to you?" He half closed his eyes in a calculating movement.
Lisbeth raised her head high, looking him in the eyes to answer his question.
"I can defend myself." She had fire in her voice but that did nothing to stop Super Blomkvist.
"That is not what I understood when I saw the video you made of Bjurman."
It was his turn for being annoyed. He remembered all of what had happened to her. It made him angry that she had to go through all of that alone. It made him angry that she had run away from him so many times.
Most of all, it annoyed him that she kept pushing him away. He knew that the best way to make her talk to him would be to push her to the edge but he also knew that might as well make her keep him at arm's length for good.
So that was all it took to push Lisbeth over the edge. She crossed the room in two strides and punched him in the face. She would have kept going if he hadn't been expecting this. He maneuvered himself behind her and locked her arms so that she wouldn't hurt him or herself further.
She tried to move away, but he was stronger than she was. All of a sudden, this started working as a trigger to a very particular memory and fear momentarily made her go still. Not once before had she felt this, not even when she first slept with Blomkvist when they were at Uppsala working together so long ago, right after her rape.
"Let go off me." Her voice was strong and steady and Mikael somehow felt he had crossed the line unintentionally.
"And I don't want to fall in love; no I don't want to fall in love with you."
He immediately let go of her. "I-I'm sorry."
Lisbeth moved away from Mikael and went over to the counter, keeping her back to him. She put her hands on top of it to steady herself, only then realizing she had been holding her breath.
Mikael knew he had acted like a jerk with his words and actions, and his heart was in pain for seeing her reaction.
Lisbeth tried to calm down, but she couldn't manage to make her body relax. She turned around once she made the decision to trust Blomkvist further. She knew there was a big chance of getting hurt one more time for opening her heart like that, but she took a leap of faith after hearing what he said earlier.
"Hey hey." He called to her – still keeping his distance –, wanting to help her; needing her to need him.
She raised her head and let him see the mess, see how she needed comfort for a change. She didn't need to wait much longer, for he walked towards her, putting his arms around her, hugging her.
"Mik-kael." She let herself be weak at that moment because she knew she could trust him to be strong for them both. She felt him holding her tighter and she let a broken sob leave her mouth. There were no tears, but you don't need tears to cry.
"It's okay now." And in that moment she thought that maybe they could talk their differences and maybe in time, everything would be alright between them.
He held Lisbeth for as long as she needed, only letting her go when she softly pushed him away. She looked up at him as he dried a last tear from her face. They locked eyes and for a few seconds time stood still for them. Lisbeth closed the space between them and tentatively put her hands on his chest, holding tight to the fabric of his sweater and pulling him to her.
Mikael didn't miss a beat and their kiss became intense, as they usually were. His hands held her by the waist and Lisbeth couldn't help let a few moans leave her mouth as she felt his thumbs brushing under her shirt.
She had missed this; these touches were something purely theirs and during the time she was away from him, she wasn't able to find someone who would make her feel the way Mikael made her feel.
She let a hand roam to his hair and his response was to gently bite her lower lip and move his actions to her neck.
He had also missed her. His relationship with Erica had become more and more platonic over the last year. Their dynamic had changed after all those years and even though they never said anything about it, they both knew it was because of the girl with the dragon tattoo.
Their need for one another spoke louder than any words they could have uttered and their hands were quick to undress their bodies. They moved to the bedroom and lying on the mattress, Mikael slowed down and gave her a deeper, more passionate kiss.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" He played with her hair a little and smiled when she pushed him to the bed and climbed on top of him.
"Yes, Kael", her voice was lazy and light, teasing him with the nickname he didn't like. "I'm sure."
She aligned herself with him and slowly pushed her hips down, savoring the feeling of him entering her. It had been way too long. She put her hands on his body and started to ride him, slowly at first and getting faster as their need started to grow.
Their moans grew louder as the time passed. Mikael's hands couldn't stop touching her whole body, and Lisbeth couldn't help but kiss him. Her movements started to get erratic as she drew closer to her climax and Mikael took the lead, holding her hips as he moved his.
Lisbeth stopped kissing him and they locked eyes again. Just a few moments later, her climax hit her and for Mikael, the feeling of her tightening around him and the sound of her throaty moan quickly triggered his orgasm.
Her body relaxed on top of his, gently shaking from time to time with the remains of her orgasm and after a few seconds she moved to his side. They lay facing each other for some time – both had lazy smiles on their lips –, trying to breathe normally again. Everything seemed to be perfect for Mikael, until he saw Lisbeth draw her lower lip and bite it.
"Lisbeth-" She shut him up by putting a hand over his mouth.
They had been overly passionate a few minutes ago and it had been so similar yet at the same time so different from the other times they had been together, that it confused Lisbeth. She scrunched her nose and closed her eyes, not wanting to see his reaction after she spoke.
"I think I still may be in love with you."
"What a wicked game you played to make me feel this way. Oh, what a wicked thing to do to let me dream of you. What a wicked thing to say you never felt this way."
Very uncharacteristically, Lisbeth just kept her eyes shut, dreading the outcome of what she just said to probably one of Sweden's top womanizer. She allowed herself that moment of insecurity – one of so many in that evening, it appeared.
Mikael was quick to hide his surprise when he processed her words – still in love with you. He looked at her and his heart stopped beating for a second for the woman lying next to him. He smiled fondly at her and gently caressed her cheek, effectively making her open her eyes.
"I think I fell for you too, Pippi."