"I told you not to take Fifth," he scowled at his driver.

The man sighed, and wished that Loki Odinson would just drive his own damn car, if he knew the way he wanted to go so fucking much.

"Sigh again, driver," and Loki looked out of the window. He would need to formulate a plan.

Into his penthouse apartment he went, and he poured himself some whiskey. He chuckled a touch…he did love having his women on tenterhooks…

Jane Foster was different, however, and he would need to accommodate that difference. She was wily, she was intelligent, and she did want to hate him. This was not how he was accustomed to dealing with his women.

He was accustomed to them melting at his feet.

He was accustomed to them begging him for his eye.

To texting them at odd hours and then pleasing him accordingly.

Not so, with this vixen.

No, not a vixen…a saint…one whose desires were decidedly less holy, and he would need to mire her with his nefarious misdeeds. With his poisonous acumen…

He smirked. He was a joyful miscreant…it was his dearest pleasure.

How tiresome to be virtuous!

…and his mind thought of Thor.

True, he had, at the outset, seduced Jane to enrage his brother.

And Loki turned on some music (Mozart) and sat down on his leather sofa. He finished his drink and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt.

Thor was so annoying, there was no other way to put it. He was annoying, and he relished squashing his hopes of ever marrying Jane. It didn't hurt that Loki had found her to be a rather interesting specimen, and challenging to his mind.

Thor…the golden boy. Thor…the sinewy steward of the Odinson estate.

Fuck him.

And so he fucked his girlfriend instead.

How could he win her?

He considered Jane Foster as he swirled the liquid in his glass.

She was irritatingly good…but perhaps not as good as she would like, hence her affection for him. She was bright…though she didn't really enjoy putting her intelligence on display…she was confident enough in her prowess that she needn't prove anything to anyone.

It was her physical beauty, then, that he could focus on, and in turn, win her mind.

She likely didn't think much of her face or body, which was likely why she seldom mentioned it as a thing…perhaps if he spent some time bestowing compliments on her beauty, she might begin to feel beautiful, and appreciate his notice of it.

Yes…he thought that this would be an excellent plan.

Jane went to her bathroom and filled the tub with water and bubbles. He really was an infuriating man.

She undressed and climbed in, taking note of the detachable shower head. Hmm…

Jane reached over and took it. She turned it on and a wicked smile crept over her face. Well, Mr. Odinson. since you are playing hard to get…

And Jane put the shower head in between her legs and let the pulse stir her…

Her head was back, and Loki's fingers were inside of her pulsing and teasing in that way he always could with her…

"Loki…just like that…"

"Like this, Jane…?"

And her clit throbbed and Jane moaned and her head went back as he sucked on her nipple.

"I need you inside of me," she whispered.

And Loki complied…he pulled Jane onto his lap and lowered her onto his erection…

"Jane," he whispered in her ear. "You are lovely…"

She rocked. "Stop talking."

"I thought you enjoyed listening to me talk…"

"Shut up, Loki…"

And he laughed, and she came.

Jane opened her eyes. Even in her reverie he was a dick.

She sighed and washed herself.

And after she was dressed for bed, Jane went to her window and looked out into Manhattan.

Jane was beginning to wonder if she respected herself. Here she was, engaging in a torrid affair with the man who broke up a wonderful relationship with a respectable boyfriend. A hulk of a man. A sweet and kind man.

She sighed and sipped the wine she had poured for herself.

God she hated him.

She loved him.

What a fucker.

How was this to be reconciled?! She loved him and she hated him…

Jane crawled into bed and took out her journal. She decided it was time to engage in a pro versus con list of being with Loki:

Pros:

The sex is great.

He kinda makes her laugh.

He is…

The sex is phenomenal.

He can be funny…

He is pretty smart.

The sex…holy shit.

Ok, he is funny.

SEX.

Cons:

He is a complete asshole.

He is a snob.

He is corrupt and he doesn't care about anyone but himself.

Selfish prick.

He is such an asshole.

Jane counted the pros. Two and a half…(smart counting as half because his intelligence, she thought, kinda made him a dick, too).

Cons…Three.

Hmmm….Why did she fall in love with him? Was she some sort of nympho?

No…it was just that good.

Jane tapped the tip of the pen to her chin…maybe Jane wanted to be a bit more…bad. Maybe he represented a need or a drive or something in her and he was fulfilling it.

Maybe she had a savior complex she wasn't aware of, and she thought that she could save him.

Maybe he was funnier than she was giving him credit for…she did laugh around him a lot.

Could she rationalize this affair any longer? He only came around maybe once a month…she was definitely being used.

Or maybe she was using him…?

Could she be the user if she was in love with him and he didn't reciprocate?

What a clusterfuck.

Jane threw the pen across the bedroom and put her journal in the drawer.

And it suddenly occurred to her what she needed to do…

…Jane needed to get over him. She couldn't make him love her… if he didn't now, he never would. She needed to get out and find a rebound.

(Funny, she thought…she wondered if Loki was the rebound from Thor…no…maybe she just was never in love with Thor)

Yep…that was what she was gonna do. Ignore Loki Odinson from now on.

Fuck that asshole prick.

The following week Loki had arranged a lovely dinner at Zenkichi for he and Jane; he noted that he was so preoccupied with his making this a lovely evening for her, that he had ignored two texts from that actress he would occasionally see…Kat D-something or other. She was a lovely, lovely girl…but he had more pressing things on his mind.

He texted her Friday…

Tomorrow night. Dinner…7pm.

He tapped his phone with his finger. Ordinarily, he would wait until an hour or two before the reservations to mention it to his date, but he thought that Zenkichi was rather difficult to massage, so he had better make certain that Jane didn't need him to make the reservations for 6 or 8 or something. Which he could certainly do, because…well. Because he was Loki Odinson.

Five minutes passed. Finally, he saw that she was responding.

Who is this?

WHAT.

Surely you are joking. Send.

He scowled. What was she playing at?

No really…who is this?

He cleared his throat and shifted in the enormous leather chair in his office.

It's Loki. Send.

Oh! Hi Loki…

Must be miffed from his abrupt departure last week.

…sorry…can't.

Loki stared at the text for a moment.

He began his response…

Jane. I have the most delightful of reservations awaiting us. It would be my greatest pleasure if you joined me at Zenkichi. Look it up, it is lovely. Almost as lovely as you…

Loki stood from his desk. He didn't know why he kept an office…all of his business dealings could be seen to from home.

He thought that perhaps he merely enjoyed a change of scenery.

That's very nice, Loki. But I have plans.

Plans.

You have plans? Send. He sniggered.

Yeah…you know….plans? Arrangements to do something?

He glared at the phone. PLANS.

Pray tell me, Jane Foster. What are these plans that you would forsake such an opportunity as Zenkichi?

His hand shook a bit.

I'm not telling you Loki. Have a great weekend!

What.

He threw his phone violently at the wall and destroyed it.

And he ran his hand through his hair.

He would need to make a detour to the Apple store now.

Jane was brushing her hair the following day. Jason was coming for her at five, and it was four now.

Obtaining a date wasn't nearly as hard as she had thought it would be…

And she smiled. It was gonna be a great evening. They were getting Chinese food and seeing an off-Broadway play.

She did enjoy some simple things in life…she would've been happy with just the Chinese.

Her bell rang.

Who on earth…?

Jane answered the door to find a smiling Loki and a large bouquet of flowers.

"Evening Jane…mind if I come in?"

"Loki, what are you doing here?"

"We have dinner reservations," and he brushed alongside her into her apartment.

"No we don't."

"Did you forget? No matter…it's but four now. The reservations are at seven," and he went into her kitchen. "Where do you keep your vases?"

"Under the sink…but Loki. I told you I had plans."

"Such games are unattractive, Jane," he placed a vase under the faucet and filled it with water.

"This isn't a game, you arrogant prick. I have plans, and I want you to leave."

"I love it when you get angry…highlights your sepia eyes," he cooed.

"Oh my god," and she threw her hands up in the air and went to finish getting ready.

Loki stood in her doorway and folded his arms in front of him. "We are going someplace rather nice, Jane. You might want to change your attire."

"Fuck off, Loki. I'm not going anywhere with you."

"It is a nice place…very romantic…very private, in an intimate sort of way."

Jane rolled her eyes.

"I recall taking another lady there not that long ago…it was fortunate that the place has curtains adorning the booths…her foot became rather playful with my crotch."

"Jesus," and Jane applied mascara.

"Just so. Though I wasn't concerned as such until she dove under the table, and undoing my pants…began to…"

"Loki! Stop right there," she whipped toward him. "I have a date, and you need to leave," and she took his hand and began to usher him out to the sitting room.

"I like it when you attempt to command me to do something, Jane."

"Look. Can you go, please? I really don't…"

And the bell rang.

Fuck.

Jane looked at Loki. "Ok. Don't ruin this for me, alright? I need to answer this, and you are gonna leave."

He smiled crookedly and didn't respond.

"Loki….?"

"Answer your door, Jane," he replied, as the bell rang again.

Of course he would be early.

Jane went over and opened the door to find a smiling Jason and a small bouquet.

Deja vu, how I hate you…"Jason! They're lovely."

"Hey Jane…sorry I'm a bit ear…" and he spotted the tall, dark man withering a glare at him in the middle of Jane's sitting room. "…ly. Hey. I'm Jason," and he went to shake the man's hand.

Loki looked down his nose at the ridiculous man and stealing a glance at Jane, rolled his eyes. "Loki," and he took his hand, shook it, then wiped his hand on the side of his coat covertly, but Jane saw him.

"Heh…Loki is…umm….he's my brother," Jane explained, and instantly regretted it, but it was the only thing she could think of to explain his rude behavior. Protective brother or something…"He was just leaving."

Loki's eye brows couldn't have been further up his forehead. "Indeed…and what sort of brother would I be if I didn't interview any prospective boyfriends for my lovely sister?"

"An absent one, Loki…you were leaving?" she opened the door for him.

Loki sat on the sofa. "Have a seat, Jason."

And he did, and smiled at Loki. "Jane didn't tell me she had a brother," he handed her the flowers and Jane went to get a vase. "Oh…those are nice," he spotted Loki's offering.

"No…she often likes to forget things that may be unpleasant for her."

"How would having a brother be unpleasant?" Jason appeared to be confused.

"I'll let Jane fill in the details," he paused. "Tell me Jason, what do you do to earn your money?"

"That's a weird way to put it."

"People often," and Loki sat back into the sofa. "Make the error of assigning their occupation too much importance. I do many people…I mean things…" he cleared his throat and tried to catch Jane's eye. "How I earn my money is but one small thing. Unlike other things about me," he added with a smirk.

"You hardly earn it, Loki," Jane said, going into her bedroom.

"My sister seems to think that a person of financial privilege doesn't work for their money."

"Oh! Are you rich, Jane?" there was a gleam in Jason's eye as he looked around the apartment.

"No. Loki stole it all," she called out.

"And she spews the most hideous of lies," Loki continued. "I cannot help it, sister dear, that you chose to abandon father's wishes and divest yourself of your clothes in that night club," he returned.

Jane marched in. Her face was red. "I only did that, brother, because you took all of the money and I was forced into it!" There. Take that, asshole.

"We all make our choices, Jane. You prefer to make yours sans clothing."

"Ummm…should I go?" Jason asked.

"Yes, I think that…" Loki began.

"No! We are leaving. Loki, you can see yourself out," and Jane took Jason by his hand and left, slamming the door behind her.

Well, Jane Foster, if you think that I am going anywhere, you are very much mistaken… And Loki sat back, ready to make a long night of it.