A Widow's Dance
The light bulb flickered, momentarily enchancing the darkness engulfing the room. The "cold room", as it was known among her circles. It resembled to old school interrogation rooms, minus the dirty cop looking down on her and his smoke clouding her vision. Technology had also kicked in, she couldn't find the source of this merciless light isolating her from the surroundings. The place delivered a sense of emptiness , even though it was impossible to estimate its proportions cause of the blackness spreading around. It was left up to an enigmatic presence , known as "the Voice" to fill the expanding void. At the opposite edge of a steel table, the Voice, always dressed in a common black suit , served as the link, the mysterious middleman she had no other option than trust. Only his clothes were left to be seen though, as his facial features were always swallowed by the shadows, whereas the actual voice itself differed every time, denying her any chance for familiarity. There were more souls in the room though, guarding and awaiting like birds of prey hidden in the dark corners. Her acute senses could detect their rhythmic breathing. Usually , new missions were assigned to her through highly secured means of technology, directly to her impenetrable ipad. Her visit to the cold room was a rare sight to behold , plus it always lead to a matter of high priority where her spying skills weren't the main request.
"Agent Romanov, as you see , the subject of priority A and code number 9281, has been interfering with a series of matters of our interest worldwide. The indicative monetary loss at the moment ,just in the United States, amounts to three billion dollars. The number of deaths has not been fully estimated yet, but it should exceed forty five and should be on the rise. The subject is diplaying a unique ability to defy basic laws of nature."
She kept gazing at the open file on the table's sleek surface. Her face morphed into an emotionless mask, whereas the cogs in her mind had already started their frantic rotation. The photographs and evidence sprawled before her were leaving no doubt on the reason she had , so unexpectedly, been summoned that morning.
"Agent, we have reasons to believe that you have gained intelligence on subject 9281 before."
The Voice continued in the same, sharp and monotonous tone. Digging deep through the chest of her crammed memories, her eyes travelled on the glossy, steel furniture before her. She smirked inwardly; her hair was a crimson cascade back then.
ooooo
The wan limelight followed her as she sensually slid down the glossy, steel pole. She landed gracefully on her sparkling stiletto babies and with a few provocative sways of her well-toned hips, she approached her supposed male victim. He lied on the floor in an almost fetus position, drained and defeated , eternal slave to her black thong and voluptuous, leather clad breasts. She stepped on his pretended corpse in a last demonstration of sadism, stirring up the aroused males beyond the small stage, who burst into claps and whistles sounding the end of her act.
Just like every night, the dim bar was packed with male hormones and flavors of alcohol, as countless rings of smoke were forming a menacing cloud hiding the ceiling. She wrapped her desirable body in a black, see-through robe and approached the bar, all the while sharing alluring smiles and promising winks with her sweaty admirers.
During her striptease , a haunting feeling she was being closely watched by some peculiar presence, other than her regular fans , had almost overwhelmed her. Upon reaching the wooden bar counter, she had already set eyes upon the source of her unusual torment. Dressed in the darkest melancholy, the tall stranger was biding like a hyena at the other end of the counter. His intense gaze had been piercing through her for a while now.
"Hey sexy, awesome performance tonight" a coarse, familiar voice praised her and a beer was placed in front of her.
"Cheers Bill" she pursed her luscious lips , sending a feather kiss to the tattooed biker on her left.
"Up for a second round later?"
"Perhaps..." she locked eyes once again with the mysterious, dark haired dandy. She had been watched , followed and worshipped by numerous, gluttonous pairs of eyes throughout her short life, never a stare had been so shameless before though, sending erotic shivers down her spine. "Night's still young" she trailed off , before slowly approaching the epicenter of her discomfort.
"If we were holding a staring competition tonight, you would have got the first prize by now" Her tone was cocky and sultry, as she took a seat on a stool next to him.
As an response, the stranger boldly sized her up and down, her airy , short robe leaving too little to any greedy imagination. She took out a cigarette and suggestively toyed it between her fingers.
"Usually, I don't smoke" he finally said with a pinch of English accent and the sexiest voice that had ever caressed her ears.
"I never asked if you did" she revealed her own lighter and softly pushed it to his side. Taking the hint, he cracked a dazzling smile and lighted up her cigarette.
"So, you are..?"
"Loki. And you are Natasha."
"Well, hearing about 'Natasha's dance' all night in this rathole , doesn't allow any wild guesses, does it?" she retorted unsurprised.
"It certainly doesn't" Loki agreed "But your act deserves a different name" he added flatly . Natasha's slender eyebrows blended into a light frown. The next step, after mentioning her steamy performance, was usually to be told about her scandalous leather outfit and how men craved to play her new , desperate victim on and out of stage. Sensing her mild perplexion, Loki leaned in.
"Your dance around the pole is a call for mating. The unlucky bloke comes in bewitched and you manipulate him. A bit of sadism...a bit of porn...Much female domination. Envelopped in this black and tight suit, you circle him as both a husband and a prey. Like a black widow. By the end of the whole fuss, you soar victorious over the dead body your lust devoured. Meanwhile dozens of pathetic souls are watching and flying high , waiting for what is labeled nature to them. What my eyes just saw, Natasha, was a widow's dance. "
The words were slipping his lips like carnal drops made of satin. Captured by his arctic blue , she realised she was holding her precious breath the whole time, in case it fluttered about in the electrified space between them.
"Natasha, everything allright?" a strong, baritone voice cut through her trance. A broad African-American with massive biceps, was towering over them. Loki met his suspicious face with a vague but steady smile.
"Never been better, Deandre" she soothed the protective giant with a twinkle of her eyes. The man called Deandre nodded and threw a last, measuring glance at Loki, before walking away.
"Well, what you say we keep cooling our throats with more booze? I'm intrigued, I'll give you that." she cocked an ironic eyebrow at him "I have this feeling though you aren't exactly a heavy drinker."
" It depends on how you expect one to be. Alcohol has a rather slow effect on me."
"But you'll join me"
"But I'll join you."
She mirrored his devious smirk and waved at the bartender.
"Get me another blond one , and whatever he is drinking." Turning her full attention back at Loki, she couldn't help but wonder what the mischievous face before her was holding back. Clients often told her she had a natural talent in judging characters and foretelling intentions. Yet this enigmatic figure appeared as a rather hard code to break.
"So, Loki, I doubt your face rings any bell to anyone tonight. That could explain a few hostile glances fired your way."
"That...and jealousy" .She slightly wet her lips at his subtle compliment. "But you are right, I'm not from around here."
"You don't look like the type of man who would embark on a roadtrip, either. Perhaps … work or unfinished business bringing you to these barren lands?"
"Neither, really. I am more on a..let's say journey of the soul. Seeking for parts of myself I had once omitted."
Their cold drinks were placed in front of them and he took out a timeworn wallet. Natasha's alert gaze fell upon a ripped photograph, held, dearly, between the tattered, leather folds. A handsome, golden haired man with the most generous smile she had ever layed eyes upon and a younger girl with honey , loose locks, carelessly greeted her, their insignificant moment immortalized through time on an old piece of photographic paper.
"For someone who is on a quest to find himself , you certainly cherish chapters of your life you already know. Family?" she pointed at the two happy faces. Loki took a hasty glimpse at the photograph and shoved the wallet back into his pocket.
"My brother and sister. You are wrong about one thing though, they aren't chapters of my life. They are the very life I came to know" he gulped down his drink in one go as if it was plain water "Orphans".
Her heart mellowed.
"I am an orphan too. I can relate. "
Loki inspected her face with renewed curiosity. An imperceptible hint of mischief seemed to colour his glistening pools, but she thought her mind had started making jokes on her.
"Ok let me ask you a question then. Looking back at your life, what do you see?"
The vague question startled her briefly. She quickly decided though to follow the path of honesty with this stranger , lying to him seemed pointless for a reason she couldn't yet place.
"Uncertainty. Anger... Much anger. Chaos. My life has been a wild ride on a roller-coaster this far. As a child, I was abandoned to a man whose vocabulary contained only two words; training and discipline. I am here now, in a place that can hardly stand as a threshold for a better future, but my whole life has been a continuous search of a missing puzzle. Looking back, there are so many memories I tried and managed to suppress."
"This is our difference, Natasha...When I look back, all I see is a blank page."
She frowned at him. He saw confusion crawling up her stunning face and decided to let a bit more of his guard down that night.
"There's nothing there. No memory. No faces. No familiar sounds. There's no one to thank or blame for who I am or what I am doing. The life I know has been a dreamless state of experiences I created on my own. For long this didn't bother me. I was welcoming the days and nights for what they were, without giving a thought on a past that, somehow, I had rejected...until my lethe got interrupted. And my sleep became restless."
"What about your brother and sister..." she dared to dive a bit deeper into his enigma " what do they say about all this? They didn't join you in this journey."
"They probably fear of what I might find. It's not only about digging what's hidden, it's realising you actually have to dig. It blows your mind."
"So, this is what brought you in this godless dump tonight? Answers to questions you never asked?"
Loki's azure eyes glistened eerily under the dim, hypnotizing lights. Smugness gushed out his facial pores as his thin lips curled to an audacious grin. As a response, he let his gaze leisurely travel over Natasha's firm body , taking the necessary time to rest on her inviting, juicy curves. Her own eyes widened in surprise.
"You bastard" she muttered without though silencing the traces of excitement all over her face.
"I never claimed my purpose tonight differs from what all these pathetic, male specimens came here for..." he chuckled. Natasha eyed him suspiciously. She couldn't deny her attraction to this obscure intruder , but she was no fool , neither she would be taken for one.
"Somehow I knew there was something mischievous about you. My instict warns me you are no person one can trust."
"Exactly, this risk is yours to accept. He opened his heart...is he worthed it? Did he lie? Will he reveal more to me? Questions..." he trailed off, looking amused.
"You know, such behavior doesn't earn you many alies. There's always the possibility I'll end up doubting you, rejecting any word you mouth as a lie."
"And that risk is mine for the taking."
Natasha's eyebrows were knitted together as she weighed her options. Undeniably, he was irresistible. Undoubtedly, she was curious. Curiosity was a woodworm gnawing its way through her warm entrails. She craved to unveil his conundrum, to learn how far he would expose himself in order to capture her body for the night. A body that had been sieged one too many times already for him to consider it an outstanding prize. So why he was so persistent tonight, what was his true motive? A mental "oh" escaped her lips as an invisible lightbulb popped into colourful streamers above her thoughts. All the rest times, men had asked for her company, a few had even tearfully implored her in the name of her beauty and their liquor. This time, she would offer herself. That's what he aimed for. But she would taunt him, pulling that target further away from him.
Swiflty, Natasha straightened her back. She eagerly swallowed the last sips of her beer and pushed away the bottle with a thud.
"Very well, try me then. I am open to hear whatever you are willing to claim. You said that, at some point, your sleep became restless. You saw something, didn't you? What was it?"
A shade of trickery flashed before his azure crystals, as Loki took a brief moment to evaluate her reaction. Slowly, his gaze drifted to his empty glass on the counter , where the icecubes had been melting into a translucent pool.
"Ice...and frost...as fas as the eye could see. Mountains of glass and deserts of cyan. Bodies frozen out in the darkness. So much cold, I would feel it through my skin. Every night, the visions turn more vivid, surrounding me and whistling that they have always been there. Waiting for me to see them. And then faces start waking up and closing in. People I do not know if they existed before or they are just inky drawings of my imagination. Some seem angry for reasons unknown. Others are looking at me and wailing. Grieving. Somewhere among them, there's a female presence. I can only sense her , I never see her. But I wake up with her name in my lips, and her warmth in my heart..."
The tip of his wet tongue sensually trailed his upper lip. And just like that, he distracted her. Her mind faltered and her transfixed eyes fell half-closed on his promising mouth. She had so completely surrendered to this bizarre narration of his nightmares, that she never noticed his body leaning closer to her, his voice turning low like a rustle. Until, he decided that she had heard enough and it was time to claim his trophy. Until, it was too late.
"Wanna get out of here?" she breathed out , swallowing impatiently the knot blocking her throat.
Loki smiled.
The humid nocturnal air invaded her nostrils. The night itself soared hot. Or perhaps it was her skin that was already on fire, as her back touched the coarse bricks, feeling their roughness through her flimsy cloth. The walls around the narrow alley , behind the bar, were embellished with rude graffiti, left to age and fade out under the weather's ploys.
He leaned in , breathing her musky scent around her alabaster nape. His hands wandered almost ritually on her thighs while his fingers drew soft patterns on her bare flesh. She felt him pressing his body against her and pinning her on the wall, trapping her in a prison she should never dare to escape from. He exhaled on her inflamed cheek , his breath steamier than the hot, summer night and she would have given in like any common prostitute right then and there, had it not been for an uninvited shadow lingering at the corner of her eye. Her body stiffened. He noticed and turned around abruptly, only to be welcomed by the round barrel of a gun.
"Easy now, lovebirds"
A greasy man with Southern accent saluted them with a toothless grin. Loki silently slid a few strides to Natasha's side, calmly examining this unexpected invader of their intimate moment. The weapon following his move and locking him as Death's candidate, seemed to have zero effect on his callous demeanor. On the other hand, Natasha's mind had already switched to overdrive , galvanized by anger, calculating possible ways of disarming the appalling thug. She dared a couple of steps to the front and , immediately, the man turned the gun back to her.
"You'd better lower that piece and tell me what you want."
"What I want? What about a second dance?" he scoffed.
"You are messing with the wrong people tonight, buddy."
"Bullshit!" he howled as her advance enraged him. " I didn't pay for you to leave with this asshole , bitch. I want my strip show and this is what I'm gonna get. Oh and ..whatever there is in your pockets" he concluded , content with himself.
Loki let a low chuckle crack through the toxic alley.
"What the fuck are you laughing at, you pale piece of shit?"
"We shall find out whose fear will turn him pale very soon.." Loki's sinister smile widened , exposing two perfect rows of sparkling teeth.
A thin vein traversing the man's temple kept pulsating, foreboding the escalation of his anger. He was drunk, he was heated and , truth be said, that dark haired, slender demon standing before him was already freaking him out.
"Fuck off!" he roared and with one abrupt move, he turned the gun back to the grinning shade, his finger locking around the trigger. Instictively, Natasha dashed forward , outstretching her arm in an attempt to prevent the inevitable.
But then, everything rolled too fast for the human mind to comprehend. Like deus ex machina , Loki emerged from the shadows behind the villain, as if he was hiding at the end of the alley all along. Natasha's eyes blinked as she watched the scene startled; she could have sworn Loki had been standing a few steps beside her all this time. Without wasting time, he delivered one straight, powerful hit to the thug's left temple. The thundering echo of the gunshot reverberated through the dim streets , as the bullet pierced the empty space of air. Blackness flooded the narrow road, envelopping the man and he fell down unconscious. Natasha quickly knelt by his side and checked his pulse, mentally thanking the gods of luck that he was still breathing. She gazed up at Loki in a mixture of awe and confusion , the moment Deandre and two other bouncers showed up alarmed.
"Natasha, what's happening?"
"It's under control, Deandre. He's alive."
The overwhelming black man cast a glance full of suspicion at Loki but Natasha put a reassuring hand on his tensed bicep.
"We're fine, really."
"Ok then, babe. You two better get going, me and the boys will clean this up."
Leaving the bouncers deal with the dirty work, Loki closed the distance between them. Their eyes locked and she was instantly drawn in, consumed by the flames dancing in his sky blue. She knew she should be full of questions demanding answers as the image of his illusion lingering beside her couldn't escape her mind. But there was something about eluding the Reaper's call that , combined with the sexual strain, had boosted her adrenaline to unimaginable levels.
"Still want to.."
She faltered. His response was to glance at an ancient, neon sign spelling out "Hotel" above a redbrick, dilabitated building across the street. Natasha snickered , cocking an eyebrow at him.
"I had something else in mind. Come.."
Their bodies pushed hard against the wooden door, crushing their way into the small apartment. Clawing on each other's clothes , they almost tumbled over an armchair while their mouths were battling for dominance between bites and fevered kisses. With her whole body ignited, she unwillingly broke their strong liplock to catch her erratic breath.
"The door..."
"Let them watch."
He assaulted her luscious lips anew , tearing the flimsy robe off her body with a sudden yank. Her fingers were working fast on his belt and buttons, the expert of undressing as she was. The moment she cupped his length, she smiled against his face. He was full of surprises after all. Not wasting tany ime, she fell on her knees before him and softly breathed out on his naked and sensitive crotch. She loved the power she had on her male victims, teasing them and making them pleading for relief like a ruthless mistress. However, she was reckoning without her host, for Loki would not allow her to become a black widow that night. He grabbed a handful of her satin hair and violently brought her mouth to the tip of his penis , compelling her to accept him in. Natasha looked up at him aroused.
"You like it rough?"
"You'd rather it slow?" His sarcasm towered over her. She smirked and swallowed him obediently, her long nails grazing his bare buttocks. He leaned his head slightly back, savoring the moment of pleasure, when his azure gaze fell on a vintage, full-length mirror propped in a corner. The shameless idea that immediately poisoned his mind , shaped fast into a perverse grin. With a tight grip on Natasha's arm, he forced her to stand up. Before she realised his intentions, he turned her towards the mirror and embraced her from behind. Her back crushed flat on his warm body and he swiftly zipped down her leather corset , revealing her full breasts. Natasha gasped at the scandalous reflection of their naked bodies, glued together and glowing unearthly under the low, yellow light. Loki pulled her hair tightly, making her head angle and exposed her alabaster neck to his hunger. His tongue trailed a hot path from its base to her burning cheek, as he pressed his hardness against her butt. Her heart was fiercely pounding inside her chest and excitement was already pooling between her thighs. There was something wickedly stimulating about watching herself ready to get ravaged through a mirror. She was so dazed by desire that she almost failed to notice his uncanny eyes momentarily flaring bloody red in the glass. She blinked bewildered but it was too late already; he entered her and lust weighed down on her eyelids.
An hour later, Loki slid off the bed. He slipped his black pants on and quietly approached a window facing the empty street. Natasha exhaled lightly under the white sheets. She was spent, completely drained, as if her body had been sieged by a Legion. She gently propped herself on her elbows and watched him silently; his lean figure resting against the window frame, his dark , disheveled hair covering his forehead. The weak light was creating playful shadows between the valleys and hills of his bare back. She never brought her transient lovers to her flat, the only sacred temple that helped her keep her distance. Granting him access that night would be something she was sure he would never appreciate to its fullest. Yet he intrigued her. She slowly stood up, dragging a soft sheet with her and tip toed to him. A pack of cigarettes waited where she always kept it; on the windowsill, to keep her company through the lonely hours gazing at the dim streets. She pulled a cigarette out and lighted it up. She took a couple of satisfying drags , and she wordlessly offered it to Loki. He stared at it pensively for two seconds, before bringing it to his dry lips. He drew the hypnotic smoke all the way in and exhaled deeply.
"I have to leave soon"
He continued watching the world outside in silence. She knew well that asking any of the questions racing through her mind's maze would be pointless. His cold, flat tone was leaving no room for her to object. It would be vain to believe he'd stay, it would be futile to hope they'd cross paths again. Instead , she softly rested her head on his smooth bicep. Her eyes followed his own , travelling over the murky roads and the old rooftops, far to the first string of dawn cracking the distant horizon.
oooooo
"Agent?"
Natasha's pupils shrunk , her focus abandoning the tattered memories.
"Agent Romanoff , answer the question please. Have you met subject 9281 before?"
Despite the stern tone of the Voice, a subtle smirk danced on her lips.
"Yes, sir, I have. But allow me to say, this time the target might be beyond our league. You see, I met him in a time he could not remember his true identity. Back when he did not know he was … a God".
Thanks for reading. Reviews are appreciated.