Sorry this is a little bit later than I expected it to be, I've had exam after exam after exam recently. However I've finally got this chapter written – I hope you enjoy it! There will be one more and then this story will be complete, but I do anticipate at least one sequel.
Darcy expected Loki to be surprised when she physically dragged him out of the marquee. What she didn't expect was for him to grab her shoulders and pin her against the nearest wall.
"Woah, dude!" She exclaimed, her eyes going wide.
Loki blinked, then his face seemed to clear and he stepped back. "My apologies. You surprised me. Can I ask why you attempted to manhandle me?"
Darcy's adrenaline levels had gone from close to zero to sky-high in a fraction of a second, so it took her a moment to gather her thoughts.
"Oh. Um. I just wanted to talk?"
Loki raised one eyebrow, amusement flitting across his features.
"Ugh, dammit. Now you've made me all tongue-tied."
"I make you tongue-tied?" Now Loki was actually purring.
Darcy tried not to blush. This was not going quite how she had expected it to. She was supposed to be in control here!
"Well, you did unexpectedly go ninja on me. But whatever. When were you going to tell me you're Thor Odinson's freaking brother?"
Loki's face closed off. It was like shutters came down and cast everything into shadow. Darcy had a strong feeling that she'd said something wrong.
"Thor and I have not spoken in many years. I would not consider him a brother of mine." Loki's voice was cold. "If you really wish to know about Thor, I suggest you ask him yourself."
He tried to move away, but Darcy held an arm up to block him.
"No! I was just curious. I mean, you two look nothing alike. Plus he's American and you're British. I would never have pegged you for brothers. But whatever, I won't pry." Lies. Darcy always pried. "You were freaking amazing out there!"
The abrupt change in topic seemed to throw Loki for a moment. "Thank you. It was a challenging course, but Sleipnir is a very talented horse. I had no doubt he would complete. Chitauri was argumentative at times, but he is young and I imagine that course will have given him confidence."
Loki still seemed hesitant, and Darcy wondered if she had spooked him by asking about his family. It was clear that there was history there that she was not privy to. She would have to Google it later.
"It's not just that though. The way you ride is incredible. You make it look effortless."
A smirk spread across Loki's face. It didn't quite meet his eyes, but it still sent the good kind of shivers down Darcy's spine.
"Is there a reason for this sudden flattery, Darcy?"
"Would you liked there to be?"
Loki's smirk widened. Darcy winked.
Loki let out a short laugh. "My dear Darcy, we've only just met. You can't possibly be suggesting what I think you are."
That tone was pure sin. Darcy had a feeling she was in way over her head here. Loki was clearly a guy with serious layers, and she had only just begun to uncover them.
But on the other hand, despite his obvious family issues and occasional asshole-attitude, Loki seemed to be a nice person. He cared for his horses. He made jokes. He got on well with Pepper and other grooms and riders on the scene, and he was obviously popular. Besides, it wasn't like he was a complete stranger. Darcy had known him for a day.
It felt like longer.
"And what exactly do you think I'm suggesting, Loki?"
Loki's eyes danced. Then, he reached out and grabbed her hand.
"I believe, Darcy, that this is a conversation we should be having somewhere more private."
Boom. Darcy had scored.
Grinning, Darcy squeezed Loki's hand and followed as he navigated his way through the maze of stalls and horseboxes. He kept glancing at her as he lead her towards the rider accommodation, that smirk still on his face. Darcy had an urge to kiss him, but that could wait. She wasn't some soppy teenager on a first date. All of that could happen later.
Loki stopped outside a numbered door and deftly unlocked it, dropping Darcy's hand. She absent-mindedly flexed it at the loss. However, that was forgotten when she saw the inside of the room.
"Why the frick do riders get digs this nice when us grooms are living in horseboxes?" She exclaimed, glancing around. This place reminded her of an upmarket hotel. As in, one of those five-star hotels that she had only ever seen on TV. This was so unfair.
Loki shrugged, sitting down on a posh-looking leather sofa and bending down to slip off his boots.
"I don't believe that all the rooms are like this, I requested this one specially. However, I would imagine it has to do with riders needing to be well-rested in order to perform their best."
Darcy plonked herself down beside Loki, kicking off her own shoes.
"Blatant discrimination, I'm telling you. Also, you requested a room specially? This is your first Badminton, are you even allowed to make requests?"
Loki stretched back, and Darcy was momentarily distracted by the way his shirt rode up, exposing his hipbones. Damn. The dude was certainly fit.
"It has much more to do with how much you are willing to pay than how well-known you are on the circuit. In any case, I've done Burghley and Luhmuhlen before, so the Badminton organisers may have heard of me. Apparently I have a reputation, even after my three-year absence."
"Well, you are exceptionally good." Darcy considered whether or not to bring her next point up. "They called you the Trickster."
To her surprise, Loki grinned. She had expected him to close off again.
"I did a competition called Barbury Castle International a few years back, I don't know if you've heard of it. I was riding Sleipnir and he tripped on the approach to one of the jumps and almost unseated me. I managed to remain on, but only by performing some quite interesting gymnastics. When I completed the course, the commentator claimed that I should be a stunt rider, a trickster. It was only a joke, but then at Gatcombe International a few months later I did it again. The name stuck."
He spoke about the past with fondness. A soft expression had come over his face, making him look young. Darcy wondered how old Loki actually was. He had done a degree, which suggested he was in his twenties, but it was hard to tell sometimes.
"Why did you decide to stop riding?"
Loki glanced at her. "You know, we came back here for a reason yet all you seemed to want to do now is talk." His tone suggested he was teasing.
Darcy shrugged. "You said it yourself, I don't know much about you. It's nice getting to know you."
"Tell me about you." It wasn't a question.
"There's nothing to tell. I'm pretty boring."
"I doubt it."
Darcy met Loki's gaze. The sincerity in it shot right to her core.
"I'm an only child. I was always a city girl growing up – I lived in Birmingham. It wasn't bad, but we didn't have much money and my parents were always working. I got lonely. I started volunteering at the local stables when I turned ten, just leading kids around. I'd never ridden myself, but the lady used to give us a few quid for it and I could use the cash. After a while she started offering to teach me to ride as payment, and I agreed. I got really into it and decided to go to college when I turned sixteen, get a qualification in Horse Management. I did that for a bit, then managed to wrangle a job as an apprentice groom and I've ended up here."
Loki's face was unreadable, but he brushed his hand lightly over hers. Darcy smiled.
"What about you? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Loki tensed for a moment, his head turning away.
"Perhaps another time. I had a very different childhood to yours. There are many parts of it I regret." He seemed to slip into memory for a moment.
Darcy squeezed his hand. "I think everyone's like that. I wanted to do this show jumping competition one time that was being held at the stables I worked it, but you paid to pay to enter. I didn't exactly have the cash, so I nicked some cigarettes off my parents and sold them at school to raise the money. It wasn't a big thing at the time, but it's not something I should have done."
Loki remained closed off.
"But anyway, the past's the past. Are we at the part where we take our clothes off now?"
As Darcy had intended, Loki's eyes sprang to hers in shock before he burst into laughter.
Darcy grinned. Tension officially broken.
"You are ridiculous." Loki declared.
"You love it."
Loki's eyes glittered, before glancing up and down Darcy's body. Something slid through her veins at that stare.
"You do, however, make a very good point. Considering the situation, there has been far too much serious talk."
Darcy gulped.
Loki leant forward, his gaze predatory. The hand holding hers moved up her arm, cupping her face. His eyes flickered down to her lips before meeting her gaze again.
He was waiting for her to make the first move.
Darcy stilled her nerves, before leaning forward and capturing Loki's lips.
He tasted like cool mint with a hint of something else, something exclusively Loki. His mouth was soft yet demanding under hers, his tongue nudging at her lips to persuade them to part. His hands moved down her back to rest of her hips, the touch gentle yet possessive.
Loki pulled back slightly, his mouth inches from Darcy's, and she longed to move in and recapture it.
"You are an intriguing woman, Darcy." Loki purred.
She would have asked what he meant but they were kissing again, more forcefully this time, Loki's hands starting to roam. Darcy's own hands fiddled with the hem of Loki's shirt as she debated slipping them underneath it.
Loki pressed Darcy back, moving her so she was lying down on the sofa. He hovered above her, his pupils blown and dark. Darcy wriggled slightly, trying to find a comfortable position for her head. Loki frowned.
"Are you-?"
"This sofa's lovely and all, but it's not great for my back." Darcy wriggled again. She was distantly aware of something putting pressure on her lower body. "D'you reckon we should move this to the bed?"
Loki's gaze darkened, desire pooling in his eyes. That was a very definite yes.
Loki stood up, pulling Darcy up with him in a surprising show of upper body strength. His arms curved around to her backside, and Darcy smiled up at him, pressing a quick kiss to the underside of his jaw.
"Bed?" She prompted.
I gave this story a T rating so this scene ends there. I'm sorry. Perhaps I'll do a one-shot with a continuation at a later date...
Thoughts?