Warning: Yea, it gets a bit M rated around here. Not 100%, but around 90%. And I don't mean the violence and swearing.
Chapter 21 - Chained. Enjoy!
Aria lay in the small gazebo, shivering a little in the cold. She knew it was bordering on becoming too freezing for her to go outside anymore, but until she had no other choice she would continue to sit out here and let her skin fade to a musty blue.
Loki had a lot more work recently, apparently there had been an attack against him or something. She didn't think it was SHIELD, but didn't risk asking anyway.
Having nearly been here around three quarters of a year now she was learning to adapt. She hated it, but it was learn or be taught. And one involved a lot more pain than the other.
She would spend nearly all day outside if possible, he only made her eat breakfast and dinner with him, lunch if he was free for it. But he was rarely free, disappearing straight after they'd eaten in the morning, dinner becoming later and later. She had no complaints seeing him less. Yet she did grow lonely. Loki was by no means the most desirable company, but he was company. She knew this was his intention, like his story about his horse, she would be alone and feel everything for him.
"Miss?" A small voice appeared, one of the staff there to bring her in for food. This usually meant she was eating with Loki, otherwise she would just wonder in when ready, or they would offer to bring it out to her.
Hoping off the bench, her muscles were stiff from the cold and it took her a moment to stretch them before going to Loki's meeting room. They ate there when he worked to make it easier.
She had to request some trousers or something, the leggings weren't doing enough to warm her. As she turned a corner towards the meeting room, her eyes glimpsed similar ones.
Jason was watching her from down the corridor towards the stairs to the kitchen, his smile sad and eyes locked on her own.
Aria nodded his way with a small smile of her own, before rushing off before Loki got impatient.
Smiling as the girl nodded her dismissal, Aria slunk into the room and took her seat, attaching herself onto the tea in front of her. Her British birth slipping through.
"Stay inside after eating, Aria" Loki mentioned midway through their food, Aria pausing her fork and lowering it. "It is becoming too cold."
"It's fine, honestly" she tried to defend.
"Your finger tips are bright red, and shaking" he commented, looking at her for a brief second, before returning to his food.
"Maybe if I had a jumper or some trousers…" Aria trailed off when he paused his eating again but didn't look at her. "Of course, Loki."
"You can go anywhere in the house" he offered as compensation, which Aria nodded too with a resigned sigh.
This gave her a chance to explore, really scout out the house for a possible escape. Learning about her environment sure, accepting not quite.
After the food at been cleared, and Aria had grown restless, Loki let her leave. He had often stated how he would prefer she sat in the room with him, chained at his feet. But she knew he didn't want her knowing about what was going on outside these walls if he could help it. He mentioned the attack only as light conversation to appease her curious questions and explain why he had to leave so quickly after eating. The mundaneness off their relationship didn't fail either of their notice, while he treated her like a pet much of the time, he didn't lash out as much now.
She hovered around the corner of the room, watching guards and others stride into the room and the door close with a deafening bang. Clearly the room had been silenced, as she heard nothing after the final scrape of a chair.
Standing now in the centre of the entranceway, she turned to the main doors to the garden and found them closed and most likely locked to help her resist temptation.
Turning in a random direction, Aria set off into the depths of the house.
Over an hour later, she found herself in the exact same stop. She had discovered many more meeting rooms, more minor room complexes, with bedroom, bathrooms and living rooms. There was one door locked further down the hallway from Loki's own rooms. That was everything for the ground and first floors. This was clearly a practical house, meant for staff and be hidden, it wasn't a home of any sort.
Slipping down the staircase from the ground floor to the basement level where the kitchens and staff worked, Aria found herself in the same place she had been only a few months earlier, standing near the kitchen and staff cloak room.
"Hello" a deep voice called, making Aria jump. Jason chuckled her, but it seemed a little forced.
"Hi" Aria replied timidly, not really sure what her rules were on talking to others in this situation. Deciding that Loki would have mentioned it if he really had an issue with it, she smiled at Jason.
"Still here then" Jason stated, rubbing his wrist awkwardly.
"Yep" Aria sighed, looking at him sincerely. "Thank you though, for trying."
"I thought it had worked till I turned up the next day and had to prepare two plates again. I half hoped it was someone else, but one of the guards explained what happened. How he came out himself in a fury to get you," Jason summarised.
"He does that" she muttered, unsure what to do now.
"If you need help again-" Jason offered, but Aria cut him off.
"Don't" she hissed. "If he ever knew. Thanks, but I got this."
"Is that what you are doing now?" He questioned, looking around as if expecting Loki to materialise through the wall.
"No, its too cold to go outside, so I got nothing to do but wonder for a bit" Aria explained, turning a little quickly when a noise from the kitchen startled her. Her lower body couldn't catch up and fell forward, taking the rest of her with it. Jason caught her quickly, running his hands down her arms to steady her, before grabbing her hand.
Aria cried out suddenly, jerking away from his grip. Her whole hand felt like it was on fire, throbbing painfully.
"You okay?" Jason asked, reaching for her again, but Aria skirted away.
"I should go" she rushed, disappearing as Jason was left at the bottom of the steps confused.
As Aria heading for the main staircase back to the rooms, a guard blocked her way.
"His majesty wants to see you, right now" the guard explained, indicating to the meeting room again.
Aria took a deep breath, before following her command and heading back to the meeting room, which was now cleared of people and Loki was sitting in the same seat, waiting for her.
"I fell" She instantly said, barely letting the door slam before spitting it out.
Loki pointed at the floor, and she realised all those stupid lines about having her chained to his feet were about to become a reality.
"They just helped me up, it wasn't anything-" Loki raised his hand and Aria screamed again, gripping her end of the table for support as her legs gave out. He continued for a while, until a few drops of blood dripped down Aria's chin and onto the table, her lip split open from biting it.
He looked at her as if bored, waiting for her to come sit at his feet. Shoving her pride away with a tense jaw clench, Aria hobbled over, keeping her confidence.
"You do what I say without any more backlash" Loki muttered, the same thin chain she wore in bed slipping out the floor and attaching to her cuff as Aria lowered herself shakily onto the floor. As she did, Loki hooked her arm, running his thumb over where the ornate 'L' used to proudly sit. "Maybe your other mark isn't sharing its message."
"No, it is" Aria rushed, eyes panicked at the idea of him carving anything else into her skin. The symbol on her thigh still stung often.
Loki lightly hummed in reply, humour dancing on his lips, before he lowered her fully to the ground. She leant against the legs of his chair in frustration, knees against her chest.
Soon he called for his consultants to be brought back in. Some glanced at her for only second, others just completely avoided her. He either warned them prior, or they were clever enough to sense she wasn't for spectacle.
The meeting was long, drawn out rubbish. She didn't understand half of it, and didn't care about the rest. Aria didn't understand how he could do this all day, every day.
"We recently narrowed down the location of Director Fury, Agent Hill and Natasha Romanoff" someone mentioned after what felt like days of talking.
"Keep narrowing" Loki ordered, having a document passed to them. "This is a brief of connecting features between all of their past bases over the last 2 years and 8 months. Should assist in the process. Do not raid until you have narrowed it down to a specific area of a street. We can not risk raiding too many places at once or they will have time to run."
Aria rested her head atop her knees. Her friends, colleagues, everyone she had worked with the last half a dozen years were being hunted like cattle, and she was here playing house with the murderer himself.
"That will be all" Loki dismissed, not moving from his upright position reading his notes.
"But, your Majesty, we still haven't covered…" the woman speaking was instantly cut off by the look Loki sent her way.
"Add it to the start of tomorrows minutes. I think we have covered enough for the day" he ground out, as everyone nodded and quickly took off out the room. "Where would they go, Aria?"
Surprised to be addressed, Aria just shrugged, stretching out the one leg she was able to move. "Not like I'd tell you if I knew. Being locked up here for eight months restricts that kind of information."
Loki didn't bother chiding her for outright declaring her disloyalty, instead releasing her chain. Aria stumbled to her feet, bending down to touch her toes and shaking out her cramped limbs. She stood there awkwardly a moment, waiting for him to tell her to do something.
After a moment, Loki stood up and waved his papers away, most likely to his office. He led her out the meeting room, back to his own.
He instantly went into the dressing room, Aria lying on the sofa dramatically, watching the fire roar to life and the heat lick her skin.
"What was that before?" She finally asked when he entered the room again, now wearing loose fitting trousers and black jumper.
"It is mostly the anklet stopping you from being touched by others" He explained, placing a hand on her shoulder and raising her up gently. She went to move to the other end of the sofa away from him, but his grip tightened as he lowered her head back on his legs.
"Mostly?" she questioned, turning to look at him now, assessing his reaction to her questions.
"The ceremony we did wards from disloyalty with another, it heightens any negative feelings towards it" Loki mumbled, eyes staring into the fire. Something looked almost innocent, but the fires reflection added to his intensity.
"Is there no way to monitor it?" She replied, rushing her response when he turned to her. "I don't mean remove it. But I fell over, it isn't like I was fucking him in the bathroom."
Loki raised her up a bit against his arm of the sofa, emerald suddenly roaring.
"Oh, believe me, your whole body would be convulsing in agony before you even unbuttoned your blouse" he hissed, moving his hand to rest on her thigh. "You will be staying in the room from now on. Until it is warm enough to return outside."
Her eyes widened incredulously. It would be months before it was even slightly a healthy weather to spend outside. He was punishing her for nothing now.
Aria opened her mouth to rebuke, but Loki lowered his to block any complaints. Kissing her with intensity and passion, she could feel the bruising starting around her thigh and hip. It felt like he was kissing the life out of her. Unable to do anything but let him continue, she debated biting his tongue, but her own survival won out.
Loki moved her legs to be either side of his, not breaking their kiss as he ran one hand up her back to rest just below her neck, the other on her waist now. Her lack of response caused a growl to leak out of his mouth, a shock of pain going up her spin.
With a resigned sigh, and battling emotions, Aria forced herself to reciprocate. She moved her own hands from stiffly at his side to run one awkwardly across his shoulder and land on the sofa back behind him.
Satisfied enough with her return, he arched them up, keeping a firm hold. His hair cut across his forehead as he rose his hand and tugged her own hair fluidly, freeing it from the ties it was in. The ginger mane cascaded around them as he a hand through it.
Loki rose from the sofa, Aria's reflex had her wrap her thighs around his hips, which he chuckled at lightly. Moving them to the bed, he lay them down. His dominating form pinned her beneath him, as she rose to meet his lips again. Her emotions caught up in the frenzy of his own. Part of her sensed some of these feelings weren't her own, as if controlled by a bond she couldn't fight. And didn't want too.
His claws skimmed her leggings down her legs, leaving thin welts in her skin, a couple beads of blood spilling out as she hissed lightly.
Loki unlocked their lips to give her chance to breath, removing his top in the process. Both their eyes were glazed, he could sense her logic breaking through. Just before it burst through, he skimmed a hand passed her thigh and over her underwear, pushing her reasoning down. He smirked as she tried to get up a little to clear her confusion, reconnecting their lips and trapping her more forcefully against the bed. Her legs were still firmly wrapped around him, as he now fully removed their clothing.
Aria looked passed his head, staring at the join between the wall behind them and the ceiling, breathing heavy and emotions battling. A gasp left her throat as he continued, her body melting into the mattress.
She managed to fight her bodies emotions, refusing to give in to his determined movements and sweet touches. Aria knew that one day he would get what he wanted from her, but for that night she had come out successful, ignoring any guilt she felt from the start.
They lay their afterwards, in a light sleep as they drifted into deeper. His arm caged her too him, as well as the chain he refused to let her sleep without, the covers resting across his shoulders and under her chin, keeping her enclosed and oddly comfortable.
As they lay there, naked and connected more than just physically, a loud explosion awoke them.
I have no idea where this came from. I started Chapter 22 at the end of this one instead of the kissing/sex bit, but deciding it was too rushed and I wanted something similar to when the Helicarrier explosion woke her. So in my attempt at filler, I wrote this which actually will change a lot about her feelings towards him, and his intentions with her.
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Thanks, Tayz x