Loki sat up in bed at the beep that sounded through his quarters and looked over at the clock on the nightstand. "Only just half past eight?" He put the book he'd been reading down on the coverlet beside him and swung his legs over to the floor. "Enter!" He shouted as he stood up, tying his breeches at his waist and stopping at mid bow as Sarah walked into the living room. Her smile danced nervously upon her face as she crossed the room to stand in the bedroom doorway.
"You busy?"
Loki stared at her.
"Are you comatose?" Sarah leaned on the door frame.
He practically had to force himself to form words. All he could see with her in front of him was the way she looked the night of the gala. "I was reading."
She looked at the bed where the book lay face down, open, and picked it up, careful not to lose his page, "Of Mice and Men? Do you understand any of it? I mean this was set in the depression of the thirties. Do you have a frame of reference for it?"
He took the book from her hand, "I understand it well enough." He closed the book and set it on the bed.
"You lost your.."
"What has brought you to my quarters at this hour?" Loki interrupted her with a hand brought upright before her.
"Come on get a shirt on, I wanted to show you something, "
Loki stood there, bit his lip, then turning, walked over to the closet, "Most likely the butt of your pistol against my skull."
Sarah sighed, put her hands atop her head, "Loki, could you just keep your inner thoughts….inner? Now come on get dressed."
He yanked a gray t-shirt from a hanger and pulled it over his head. "I find it increasingly difficult to understand your penchant for activities involving the crack of dawn or the witching hour."
"You'll like this, I promise."
She walked back out into the living room and stood there, waiting for him to follow. He walked a bit slower out into the living room where she opened the door and they walked out into the silent corridor.
In the elevator, Sarah looked at Loki, "You're barefoot?"
"Are we stepping out?"
"Well no but.."
Loki crossed his arms, "Then I am barefoot."
She shook her head and pressed the button on the panel for Roof level.
"Ah yes, throwing me from the rooftop. One does wonder how you will make it seem like an accident."
Sarah reached out and hit the stop button, "Okay, I'm done." Her hand was inches from the button reading 3 when he took hold of her hand.
"Please, don't. Forgive me, I will try to hold my tongue."
"Try?" She hit the button for the rooftop again.
"Yes, try. Would you rather have me struck mute?"
"It would be a nice change."
"And now who looses words like arrows?"
The elevator door slid open to the lower landing pad and they stepped out, walked to the stairs for the upper landing pad and climbed up them, emerging into the night, the glow of the city around them, Loki standing at the top stair. "My perimeter bracelet is still active, will I be safe outside?"
"Yes, it has a ten foot leeway around the whole building, Come on, it's nine already."
She took his hand and led him over to the retaining wall at the edge of the roof. She leaned on the ledge and looked out over the river, half blocked by Stark Tower a short distance away.
"I have seen this vista before, what makes tonight any different?" Loki leaned at the edge beside her.
"Just wait" Somewhere far in the distance, a small volley of fireworks was going off, "It's still a bit early yet."
"For this you dragged me up here?"
"You're still not trying hard enough to keep your mouth shut." Sarah growled.
They were quiet for a few minutes, taking in the lights, the activity of the city far below and around them, and when Loki spoke, his voice was low,
"Thor told me you were considering tendering your resignation after Saturday."
Sarah didn't face him but nodded. "Still am but I'd probably just go with a transfer."
The first volley of fireworks startled them both and they watched the sky light up across the harbor.
"So you would leave me in the care of a complete stranger? A truer mark of friendship there never was." Loki looked over at Sarah who wore a perturbed expression.
"Friendship, with a mere mortal, a lowly human? Unheard of."
Loki glanced away to watch the next volley, "Why must you use my words against me?"
"Hey you took the first shot, I'm just returning fire." Sarah turned to look at him,
"If you could spar with your body as well as you did with your words, you would be a fit match for the finest warriors in Asgard."
"Do you count yourself among them?" Sarah watched his smile build,
"Then all I need is a bracelet."
Loki glared at her, "We are truly at odds are we not?"
Sarah watched the fireworks light up the skyline, "That does seem to be the case." And suddenly Loki was right at her elbow, making her turn to look at him,
"Why did you leave the night of the gala?" his hand was at her elbow and she stepped back from him,
"You were the one that ran away from me, and you said horrible things, acted like I wasn't fit to tie your boots." Sarah threw her hands in the air,
"Why did you not follow me?" He turned away from her, starting to pace.
"Did you not just hear me?" Sarah walked up to him and stood in his path, "The only reason I might have followed you that night would have been to put my pretty little shoe up your ass."
He grabbed her arm, "Your eloquence astounds me, Sarah. Yet you've not answered my question."
She pulled away from him, "You were the one who should have been following me, you were the one with the reason to apologize."
"Do you not think that I would have followed you had it been within my power to do so? I returned to look for you."
"Well you were too late."
They turned, watching the grand finale as it drowned out their words. As the last volley faded, Sarah turned and started for the rooftop door, her steps quick, causing Loki to trot up behind her, surprised at her rapid departure.
"Out of sheer morbid curiousity," She said as they walked to the elevator, "What would you have said to me if I'd still been there?"
He watched her press the button for the third floor. "I do not know. Perhaps I would have said nothing."
She suddenly wished she had listened to her sister, this had been useless, she was angry and he was as impolite and cryptic as ever.
"Well then what would have been the point?"
The elevator door opened, they walked down the hall, stopping at the door to his quarters.
"I've had enough fun tonight." She sighed, looked at him where he stood, head down staring at his feet, and started to walk down the hallway back towards the elevator.
She was halfway there when she heard Loki, "Sarah,"
She stopped and ventured a glance back. "What is it?"
"We are indeed more alike than I care to admit, in body and in mind, with the same misgivings, weaknesses and fears, for though I am a warrior, there is no armor sturdy enough to ward off the slings and arrows of love, yet no magic elixir or incantations potent enough as to give one the strength to endure it either."
Sarah stood still, "You make it sound like I'm trying to poison you." She looked down, trying not to work herself up worse, but her voice was hoarse when she spoke again, "You know, this was a stupid move on my part, trying to get you to talk to me."
Loki walked back down the hall to her, "I have been talking to you for near to an hour, what more would you have me say?"
"You know what, forget it." Sarah started out for the elevator again but Loki had reached out and grabbed her hand,
"Sarah, you obviously came here tonight with something more on your mind than to show me how Midgardians celebrate holidays. What troubles you so?"
She pushed his hand from hers, "Are you serious? Saturday night? Do you remember trying to stick your tongue down my throat or do you have a selective memory?"
He shuddered involuntarily, "By the Gods, must you be so vulgar and crass?"
She crossed her arms, "Well subtlety didn't seem to be working and I figured that what happened should sort of be discussed."
"You seemed to have had ample opportunity to do so, why did you not simply state the reason you came to see me in the first place?"
"Just like that?" She put her hands out to him, "From the way you kissed me that night, I thought that would have been the first thing on your mind."
Loki took a deep breath, "it was an indiscretion on my part and so I shall beg your forgiveness."
" An indiscretion?" Sarah shouted, "That's all it was? You little bastard!"
Loki kept his gaze from her, "Of course it was, any other explanation, any other possibility that it could be otherwise, is positively laughable."
She was at him in a moment, her hands balled into fists, striking him in the chest, "You sonofabitch! I hate you! I hate the way you look down at me, at all of us, the hateful words you say to me." She felt him flinch with each strike, and she glanced up to see him, his face turned from her, impassive, tears streaming to his chin. She stepped back then, angrier now, put her hand to his chin and gave it a rough yank until she was staring into his eyes,
"What's wrong with me? Why did you do what you did? Tell me the truth." Sarah cried,
"There is nothing wrong with you, Sarah. There never was. Were it that I could ignore what has crept into my heart now, I would, if only to spare you the pain of what you ask from me. I have been without love, without its warmth, its peace for countless ages, I have feared the consequences of such a love were I ever to find it as I have here, not only for me but for the woman whom I choose to love as well."
"But why," She had now joined him, tears running down her cheeks, her voice wavering, "What's so horrible about falling in love?"
He brought his hands up to hers and held them where they were. "I do not believe in it, though I want it, though I feel it now, I do not believe it could be reciprocated. I am a monster, as such destined to be reviled, and rightly so."
Sarah felt like all the energy had drained from her as he let her hands drop from his face and she slid them around his waist, her body leaning to him until her head was resting on his chest. She could hear his heart, the beat loud and strong and hard, body trembling as he brought his arms up and around her shoulders, enfolding her in them with a groan.
"Never assume, Loki." She stepped back from him, took his hand and led him back down the corridor to his door where she passed her hand over the panel. She could feel his hand tighten in hers as they walked into the living room where the door slid closed behind them and they were finally facing each other.
"This is crazy." She whispered as he took her hand, kissed the knuckles gently, turning it over to expose her wrist, the soft skin at the pulse point where he drew a line up to her palm with his tongue, feeling her legs give out as he wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her to him, his lips brushing the shell of her ear as he whispered to her,
"I have long waited to taste you once again, to show you what it means to be loved by a god, to be worshipped by a prince of the realm. I beg of you, make me whole. Give me reason to believe I am worthy of that which you are willing to give to me."
His lips were suddenly upon hers, crushing her to him, an urgency translated when leaned down and swept his arm beneath her knees, lifting her from the floor and heading into the bedroom where he sat her on the bed, shifted her upward until she felt the pillows beneath her head, she drew a harsh breath as he lifted her to draw her shirt up and over her head.
"Loki, ah, Jesus !" She lost all coherent thought as he lunged at her throat, suckling, nipping, licking. She could feel his teeth graze her collarbone, her shoulder, her arm held extended by him as he dipped his tongue to the hollow at her elbow , the muscles of her neck relaxing as she let her head fall back, mouth open, eyes closed.
She could feel a hand at the edge of her bra, fingers slipping beneath the edge. She reached in front of her, pushing him back to lean on his knees, so that she could undo the front clasp, aware of his gaze, intent, hungry. As she shrugged the bra from her shoulders, she felt his hand cover one breast then a gentle squeeze, his hand cupping and lifting as he dipped his head, touching his lips to it, drawing the nipple into his mouth, smiling around it as he felt it stiffen at his attention. He released one, moving to the other. She put a hand behind her to steady herself, the flush of passion taking over her body, tightening her muscles, catching her breath in her throat as he put a hand to her shoulder and shoved her to the mattress, rising above her, pulling his shirt up and over his head, dropping it from his fingers.
She put a hand up to reach for him but he caught her hand and placed it at the drawstring of his breeches, "Untie me, free me from my confines." She tried to obey but the tremors running through her caused her to fumble with the strings until his hand joined with hers again, pulling the bow free. She looked up at him, could see the pure lust in the depth of his gaze as he reached between her arms to undo the zipper of her shorts, his hand working deftly, trailing his fingers through the downy hair, suddenly poised above her, one hand beside her on the bed as he slipped his hand underneath the fabric to cup her, his fingers curling upward, drawn by the deeper heat within, giving a deep chuckle when she arched her hips into his touch. "I can feel you are ready for me but I will have more of your body before I take you."
He withdrew his hand until it was at the edge of her waistband and he drew them down her body, aided by her as she lifted her hips for him. When he dropped the shorts to the side, he leaned back on his knees again, staring down at her now naked form. "A goddess for a god, it is fitting, is it not?"
She felt herself redden, "I'm far from a goddess.." he leaned over her and cut her protests short with his kiss, biting her lip gently, sucking it between his own, her groans mingling with his. He stretched out beside her, kissing his way down her throat, around the swell of one breast, coming close but not touching the areola, teasing, drawing his tongue in a line down to her navel, bending one leg upward, nipping at her thigh, kissing her knee, down to her calf where she tried to suppress a giggle, couldn't.
"Loki, I'm ticklish." Felt him smile against her skin, plant a kiss on the top of her foot and start to the other leg, now poised between them as she put her hand to his head to finger the raven strands, squealing as he bit the inside of her thigh, breath coming in short gasps as he reached the juncture between her thighs and paused, knelt there, his eyes trained up at her face. She gazed down her body to meet his stare, watching his eyes close, she felt him move, put her head back to the pillows, crying out as his tongue rasped against her and her fingers tightened in his hair, her other hand twisting the sheets. She bucked into him, feeling the heat of his breath, the sweet agony his ministrations were building within her, driving her insane. His hands gripped her thighs, fingers pressing into her flesh, holding her in place. She could feel the edge approaching, her heart pounding, sweat a sheen across her stomach, she felt his breath quicken pace, his back arch upward in anticipation as ripples of ecstasy flooded through her, reaching a crescendo as she let forth a hoarse scream, arching from the bed, pulling her fingers from his hair to her mouth to bite her knuckles, trying to stifle her cries as her body trembled.
She felt the weight shift as he stood from the bed and slipped his breeches to the floor, replaced himself between her knees, now spread wide before him. "Are you ready for me now?" He pulled her hand from the bed, "Take me in your hand," She wrapped her fingers around his length, tugging gently at him, "Guide me inside of you, I wish your will to be your own." She lifted her hips up to meet his as she pressed him against her, feeling his hips slide forward to match hers until he had filled her completely, the act itself giving impetus to raw animal passion as he drove himself into her, his thrusts rough, she meeting him in rhythm, her hands at his back, throat constricting with anguish as she felt the scars of the whip beneath her fingers. He put a hand behind her head and kissed her, their breath mingling as their tongues danced together. He lifted himself to his hands, looking down between them, desire mounting higher as he watched their coupling. He groaned, met her eyes. "You are mine, gods save those who try to take you from me." She reached up, cupped his face and pulled him closer to her as she whispered, "I want to look into your eyes when you come." The words driving him to a frenzy, he arched deeper into her, his rhythm starting to break as he neared completion, a roar escaping him as his release washed over him like a tidal wave, meeting her stare, mouth open, as she rose to meet it in a deep kiss, enclosing in her mind, his eyes, the look of pure passion.
They slid to the mattress, breathless. She stroked his hair, his head resting on her stomach, arms against her sides, hearts slowing, perspiration drying on their skin, he finally lifting himself from between her legs and easing to the mattress beside her, arm draped over her, lips pressed to her shoulder in a kiss, then closer in, she smiled as his breath tickled her ear.
"What have you done to me?" He whispered, "That I should willingly withstand a thousand lashes over again, risk exile, death, to keep you by my side?" He began to kiss her neck, softly, his hand gliding up between her breasts to cup her face.
"I doubt it's going to come to that, don't let's be so dramatic." Sarah turned on her side to face him.
"The hour grows late, and soon I will be alone again." He took her hand, held it in his, kissed it.
"I was going to stay the night. Are you kicking me out?" Sarah rose on her elbow as Loki sat up.
"My brother will soon be here to check on me. He was with Jane tonight but since the gala, he has kept a closer watch over me, I fear he knows my feelings for you, that he wished to prevent from happening what has nevertheless come to pass between us."
Sarah sat up beside him, "So you're embarrassed to have me here?"
Loki turned to her, "We have just given ourselves to one another, forged an unbreakable bond in love begotten in love. You mistake my words. I fear the consequences if he finds you in my bed. He is not one to overlook something such as this."
Sarah reached for her shorts at the bottom of the bed, "Okay, as long as you put it that way, just so you know I really don't want to leave."
He crawled down the bed to where she sat, kissed the back of her neck sending shivers racing over her body, "Oh god, yes." She let her head bow forward, "This isn't going to help me get out of here any quicker."
He sat back, grabbed his breeches and shoved them on. "It shall not help me either but," He leaned to her shoulder, "I shall have a sweet memory to carry me through the night."
They kissed once more before she stepped out into the hallway. When the elevator door opened, she was greeted by Thor stepping off and smiled at how close they'd been to getting caught.
"Sarah, how are you? Have you been at my brother's quarters?"
Sarah nodded, "Just dropped him off." She could see the confusion in Thor's face, "We went up to the roof to watch the fireworks."
"Oh, he is well then. Jane and myself have just now parted. We were at a pier, the name escapes me. I am glad that Loki wasn't alone."
"You are?" Sarah eyed him,
"Yes, my brother needs companionship, he is prone to backsliding and melancholy, something I wish to avoid."
She entered the elevator and to her surprise, Thor followed her. "If he is well and safe, I've no need to visit him. I will return to my own quarters."
She pressed the button for the main level and they stood silent until Thor tapped her on the shoulder, breaking her concentration,
"It would seem that your shirt is inside out, Sarah."
She looked down at the seam of one arm, "Nice, it's been like this all day and no one said anything except you. I'll stop in the bathroom and fix it." 'And fix the heart attack I just had' she thought to herself. She could feel the blush rise to her face.
"I'm glad I could be of service." Thor said, watched her trot off down the hallway, then looked back at the elevator. Once inside, his hand hovered over the number three, instead he chose his floor as the door slid closed.