Notes:

Okay, so I started out with an outline for this chapter, and it totally got away from me, I'm only about eighty percent happy with how it turned out, but I'll get back on pace with the next one...

Frosty Throne

Chapter 14: Finding Steady

Loki gripped her waist; his fingers dragging over the skin revealed just under the hem of her tank top, his nails catching as she shifted closer. Her mouth was hot on his and her legs gripped at his thighs as he ran his tongue along hers, gently sucking at the appendage. Darcy pushed her chest against his, wishing he would just touch her, but he was so careful, only touching what she'd expressly invited him to, and not an inch more. She pulled her lips from his and gently nipped at his lips before kissing down the side of his jaw to his neck, slipping her hands down their bodies to where his where fisted in her shirt.

"Please," she pulled at his fingers, unlocking them from the cotton tank, and pressing them to her skin underneath. "I need more," her fingers pushed at his gently, trying to give him directions without being too demanding. His hands made hesitant movements up the back of her shirt, fingers rubbing along her spine as she arched into him, her thighs gripping tighter at his as she sought out the friction she needed.

"My dear," Loki growled as she nipped along the line of his Adams apple, her lips gently sucking at the skin of his throat. "I feel we have passed the edge of propriety," he's voice rumbled against her mouth as she ground down against him, her own hands venturing under his tunic, seeking the warmth of his skin against hers. "For this stage in our relationship."

Darcy sucked in a breath, nodding. She gave him one last kiss and let her forehead fall against his. "You're probably right," she breathed against his lips, his minty breath mingling with hers and sending shivers down her spine, she had to resist the urge to grind down against him, not wanting to push him further than he was willing to go. "It's just," she brushed her lips against his, feeling his fingers tighten along her back, his breath puffing over her face. "I can't get enough."

"I would never endeavor to deprive you," he rubbed the length of his nose against hers. "But I wish to save some of our desire for another time, there is a saying," he swallowed thickly as she peppered his jaw with kitten licks and kisses. "That the flame that burns to brightly is sure to flicker out."

"Slow burn is good," she forced herself to sit back on his legs, immediately feeling the absence of his body heat. "Okay, deep breaths," she pushed her hair back off her neck and wound it up into a knot with a hair tie from her wrist. "I am way too keyed up to sleep now."

Loki gave her a warm smile and waved his hands over the coffee table, producing two earthenware cups and a teapot, the warm smell of lavender tea permeated the room almost instantly. "Perhaps we might partake?"

"Lavender tea," she let herself slid off to the side and tucked her feet up under her. "You remembered."

"It was not that long ago that you told me of your tea ritual with Thor," he gave her a puzzled look. "My memory is not that short, my dear."

"Most guys don't listen to what I say, Mischief," Darcy picked up the tea pot and poured them both a cup, drizzling a little honey into hers. "Would you like?" she indicated the honey pot.

"A small amount," he nodded, accepting the steaming mug from her and blowing gently across the top. "Why would I not listen, I believe I was the one that asked to know you better." She just shrugged and looked down into her own cup, letting the steam bath her face in comforting scent. "I am constantly perplexed by the way you talk of men of your own kind, they seem particularly dull and ineffectual from what you have told me. I must confess, I am not surprised that you have not sought their company in some time."

"They're not all that bad," she took a tentative sip of her tea, still looking down into her cup. "I mean, I'm not the best person to ask, I guess." She put the cup down on the table and looked up at the ceiling, searching for what she wanted to say. "I don't have a lot of experience with positive male role models, I mean I have them now, but growing up, men kinda came and went, and none of them really wanted me around."

"You did say you had no father," Loki prompted for her to continue, pulling her legs back over his, but letting his hand rest gently on her knee as he sipped at his tea.

"No father, no grandparents," she shrugged, letting herself settle back on the arm of the couch. "It was just mom and me, sometimes mom would have a boyfriend, but they usually didn't last very long."

"And as such, you did not have a model as to how to have your own relationships," he nodded. He drained his cup and set it down on the table, leaning carefully over her legs for a moment before sitting back. "I will endeavor to be a better example of masculinity then you have previously been demonstrated."

"I think you've already surpassed that, Lokes," she rolled her eyes. "I mean, the guys at the Avengers Facility are great, they don't treat me like a walking pair of tits, which is nice, and for once I've actually gotten to be more me without worrying about how they see me."

"You have found a place within their ranks," his fingers wandered down her calf, gently massaging the muscles he found there. A small gesture brought her cup back to her hands, and she smiled at him, letting the weight of it fall entirely into her palms, the warmth soaking into her fingers. "Tell me about your life with Earth's mightiest heroes."

"They're all a bunch of dorks," she giggled a little into the mug, sipping her tea, finding it to be at optimum drinking temperature. "Bucky loves science fiction, you know aliens and space and flying cars, he can spend an entire weekend camped out on my couch watching old episodes of Star Trek and completely ignore Clint, Nat and I." She smiled and took a long drink of the tea. "Sometimes he forgets to eat until his stomach gets so loud that we have to drag him from the television."

"And he cannot do this in his own home?" Loki wondered a little about this Bucky, Thor had never mentioned him, and he'd heard her deny her involvement with him, he did seem to feature in her stories.

"Naw," Darcy drained the last of the tea from her cup and set it down on the table, scooting down so her butt was pressed into his thigh. "Steve doesn't like having a TV in his living room, old fashioned grump, so Bucky comes to mine to veg."

"Veg?"

"Relax and watch television," she shrugged. "Most of the time it's the four of us, Nat and Clint and Bucky with me in the living room, plenty of take out and good friends. Not a one of us can really cook much, if you don't count my ability to bake, I love to bake. I think it's one of the main reasons that Clint and Nat adopted me, other than Clint's perpetual need for strays."

"Strays," he adjusted her legs over his lap, pulling them close to him and hooking his fingers over the edge of her far knee. "You speak as if you are a pet."

"Sometimes I think Nat sees me that way," Darcy pulled one of his hands from her leg and entwined their fingers. "She'll get this confused look on her face and just watch me, like she's trying to learn how to be a real girl from me, it's bazaar."

"Ms. Romanoff was quite the creature, from what I remember," Loki busied himself with preparing another mug of tea for both of them, adding a little valerian root with a flick of his magic, pulsing spearmint flavor over her lips, unbeknownst to him. "She's very calculating, it is hard for me to imagine her just relaxing, and with you my dear, she seemed to be so very cold."

"She can be," she accepted the new mug from him, sniffing at the tea, detecting the hint of the bitter root. "She can also be a lot of fun, even if she just rolls her eyes at the pranks Clint and I tend to pull, she can laugh so hard I can see the cracks in what makes her the Black Widow, and Bucky tells me stories about how she was when she was young, I can see that little girl sometimes too."

"She must be very close to you to let you see so far beyond her veil," he swirled his tea around in the cup, the steam rising gently. "I tried to break her façade, and was taken in like an amateur."

"She's pretty good at that," Darcy drained the mug quickly, feeling the effects of the valerian root nearly instantly, there had to be some more potent form of the herb on Asgard. "I'm starting to get a little sleepy, Mischief."

"Then we should retire for the evening," he helped her stand, letting her lean into his side. "I have enjoyed our time together, my dear."

"Me to," she smiled as he wrapped his arm around her waist, his fingers lingering under the hem of her shirt. "If I wasn't so tired, I'd demand more kisses before you left." He pulled back the heavy fur and helped her slip between the covers.

"I will have to content myself, then," Loki laid a soft kiss on her forehead. "I will savor the kisses we have shared thus far."

"Not so fast," she caught his hand as he turned to leave, pulling him back to her side as she scooted up on the pillows. "I need a kiss good night, that's how you end a date on Midgard."

"A date," he tried the word out. "And a date, is what we just engaged in?"

"Yep," Darcy nodded her head. "Usually it's something like dinner and a movie to start out with, or lunch, something structured surrounding some kind of meal, as you move forward its more, they become less structured, I guess."

"You are guessing," Loki let her pull him onto the bed beside her, holding himself apart from her, not sure how he was supposed to act this close to her in such an intimate and forward setting.

"My relationships are usually, hey coffee's awesome, lets fuck," she picked at the rich fur of her blankets. "Like I said, I'm not an expert on Midgardian dating rituals, other than what I've seen in movies. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of sex, I enjoy it a great deal."

"I am pleased to know this, but as I stated, the brightest flame burns the quickest," he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Do you mind if I take a bit more led when it comes to our intimacy? I feel like maybe, for me, I would like to do it a little more Asgard style, so to speak?"

"On Earth, at least in pop culture and on TV and such, the standard is three dates before it is more socially acceptable to have sex," Darcy looked up at Loki, who furrowed his brow. "What's the standard on Asgard?"

"Dates are not structured quite the same way, perhaps, but most couples do not engage in bed sport before they have established themselves beyond basic courting," he mulled over his words carefully. "When they have established that they are not open to courting with anyone other than each other, and have established a baseline for their future."

"Are we talking engaged, or like, going steady, you know not seeing anyone else?"

"Not engaged, as Thor and Jane are, but absolutely not seeing anyone other than each other," Loki said carefully. "I am finding it very difficult to try and explain myself without really understanding the words you use for different stages in a relationship," he grumbled, playing his fingers along hers. "They would wait until they had a close relationship; they were close friends and companions, committed to each other at an emotional level as well as their desires for each other physically."

"Okay," she leaned back, letting him run the tips of his finger over her hand and down along the inside of her wrist. "We're friends, right, so we're working to that, right?"

"I believe so, my dear," he smiled over at her. "I also am beginning to feel like we are over thinking all of this, we are neither able to court the way we would here on Asgard nor the way we would if I was a brutish human man, so let us stop trying to break it all down into terms, and just try to do it our way."

"Good," Darcy pulled at his hand to make him face her, laying back on the pillows, pulling him closer. "I still need a good night kiss, Mischief."

"I do enjoy your name of endearment, my dear," Loki let her pull him more onto the bed and down over her, so his arms where braced on either side of her head.

"Good," she nipped up at his lips before capturing them with her own. She grinned against his mouth as his tongue lapped out against the seam of her lips, opening them gently for him. His tongue slid along hers, warming that fire in her belly as he slowly let his arms relax, resting his chest against hers as they kissed.

Notes:

No more hashing out relationship details, Loki and I are are totally in sync with the need to let it go now.

Please don't forget to drop a comment in the box below.