I wasn't sure what game Loki was playing this time, but I did know that he was going to pay when I caught up to him. The only thing I had been looking forward to after four days stuck on a boat in the middle of the fucking Atlantic was some nice quiet time with my husband.

Was he at home when I finally tramped through the door, still smelling like seaweed and rotting fish despite the three showers I had taken? No. When I texted him to ask where he was, he didn't answer. When I tried to reach him through our link, all I received was an admonishment to be patient. So, I had growled and made my way to our bathroom to take a fourth shower.

I usually loved the ocean, but I hadn't enjoyed being on a boat with nothing to watch but the roiling water while Stephen and Wong had been doing the interesting stuff miles below the surface. They both swore up and down that I hadn't missed a thing, and that I probably would have ended up doing nothing but restraining myself from strangling the ruler of Atlantis anyway. From the descriptions they provided me of the King's personality, their concerns were valid but A) I was married to a freaking Norse God, for the love of all that was holy, and had experience dealing with arrogant personalities as a result and B) I would have been willing to put up with a lot if it meant I had something to do besides stare at the water and the blips on the sonar screen.

Atlantis was apparently cut off from communication of all kinds, and what Stephen and Wong had been dealing with down there...well, there had been a chance that they would have needed help but His High and Mighty, the King of Atlantis (I didn't get a chance to meet him but I already didn't like him) hadn't wanted anymore surface dwellers "clomping about my kingdom and polluting it with their presence". Once Stephen and Wong were in the city, they weren't able to communicate with the outside world in any way. The spells that kept Atlantis hidden were powerful which was how the place had remained just a myth for so long.

However, the protection didn't affect my empathy. Stephen and Wong had dragged me along to test that theory. They hadn't told me where we were going, hadn't said a word, just plopped me on an old fishing boat with them and piloted it to the middle of the ocean. I had spent most of that time flip-flopping through zoning out watching the waves and playing with my abilities with the aid of the marine mammals we came across, when I had suddenly sensed something really fishy (Get it? Arf arf.) under the waves. When I blurted out. "Um, there are people down there, right under us," the sorcerers got the confirmation they wanted that Atlantis's defenses did not interfere with my empathy.

My job had been to wait on the surface and be ready to call in some additional help if I sensed that Stephen and Wong had gotten in over their heads. It hadn't been that bad the first day. A pod of orcas came by and provided me with some company before they got bored and swam on.

Correction: It hadn't been that bad, at least until the orcas decided to ram the boat and knock me into the water to play with them since I wasn't coming out willingly. Then they had gotten bored after I had dragged myself back onto the boat, coughing and sputtering, after they had decided I was a big whiner and Not Much Fun. No, I didn't have to guess that they'd been thinking that. Their feelings came through loud and clear courtesy of my sixth sense, with which I could pick up the feelings of animals as well as people.

After that...well, I hadn't even brought a book to read and my phone ran out of power pretty fast. The sorcerers had resurfaced to find a bunch of little hatch marks scratched all over the deck, courtesy of the numerous Tik Tac Toe games I had been playing with myself using an old fishing hook I'd found in one of the boat's storage bins.

I felt I had been patient long enough. I wanted my Prince, but he wasn't going to be accommodating. My mood didn't lighten up at all when I opened the bedroom door to find the bed neatly made up except for the shirt that was lying on top of the comforter. A dirty shirt. A recently worn dirty shirt. There wasn't anything really spectacular about it. It wasn't even a fancy shirt. It was a T shirt that he might have been wearing while training or just lounging around reading...although the latter activity wouldn't account for the dark stains that adorned the armpits, chest, and back of the shirt. Stains that indicated he'd been sweating. A lot.

Loki was as much of a stickler for cleanliness as I was. He would never leave a dirty shirt out, and not on the bed, without a reason. He hadn't left that out accidentally. He had left it out especially for me.

For most people, aphrodisiacs consisted of a special perfume, or other special smells, special tastes, particular sounds. Loki didn't need any sort of specific cologne or aftershave...they all stank to me and Loki had quit wearing any after he and I met when he figured out that none of the stuff was at all pleasant to my sensitive nose. All he needed was his particular scent.

That was my personal aphrodisiac. That was what got me going. That shirt was left out with no Loki in sight because he knew that without him around, and just his shirt there, I would end up grabbing the garment and sticking my face into it like a cat rolling around in nip. I could picture him, right now, somehow monitoring this room, waiting to watching me pick up the tee and smash it against my nose while inhaling.

"What are you up to now?" I wondered aloud. Not even Loki's smell though could overcome the stench of brine and rotten fish that still clung to me. The rotten fish was courtesy of one of the baby orcas, who had decided to try grabbing my arm with its mouth to stop me from swimming back to the boat after Mommy, Daddy, aunts, uncles, and other assorted relatives dumped me into the drink.

Part of it had been the boat as well. The most powerful sorcerers on Earth, and Stephen and Wong couldn't manage to get a cleaner boat.

I undressed, paused to debate if I should bother trying to wash my sea-encrusted clothes or just burn them, and stubbornly refused to look at the bed and the shirt that was on it. A shirt I could now smell. Loki had worn it recently alright. His scent was still strong. It filled my lungs, that particular blend of cool air after it had just traveled for miles from some place coated in ice and snow, the leather he often wore, and just a slight touch of peppermint. The sweat didn't detract from the aroma, but enhanced it, and there was the faint brush of a pleasant musk.

My groin heated and my nipples tightened as my pulse raced.

"Damn you," I snarled as I went into the bathroom and slammed the door. If Loki's intention was to whip me into a frenzy, it was starting to work. I wouldn't let it. He would not win.

I pulled out the extremely strong floral body wash Yelena had talked me into buying, but that I never used because the smell was overpowering, and took it into the shower with me. After I got through scrubbing a few times, I rummaged through the bathroom cupboards until I found the cologne Loki had used before he met me. He had put it away when he realized he needed to stop wearing it if he was ever going to have a chance to get me into his bed. I opened it up.

It wasn't a bad smell. It was actually better than most colognes, and to a human nose it would be pleasant. To my senses, it was overpowering and if Loki hadn't stopped wearing it voluntarily, I would have eventually asked him to consider giving it up. It was strong enough to cover up his natural scent and that would have ground on my nerves.

I splashed a couple of drops on myself and went back to the bedroom to get dressed in clean clothes. It wasn't an easy task. That shirt, smelling of my husband, sat there on the bed, taunting me, even with the cologne wafting up from my pulse points. It called to me, a siren's song composed specifically for me. I pulled my own shirt over my head, staring at it. I was trembling like a junkie needing a fix.

I gave in, picked up the shirt, and inhaled deeply.

"You win this round," I grumbled, walking out. "But I'll be damned if I let you win another."

I was going to pretend that the amusement I felt, amusement that wasn't mine, was just a figment of my imagination.

I pushed the transition into Park with a little more force than necessary. Growling, and making sure no one was looking, I reached under the driver's seat and pulled out the shirt that had been stuffed under there. Loki had broken into my Rabbit and put the garment under my seat. It was another T shirt that smelled of sweat and him.

"Christ, Loki, did you save up all the shirts you worked out in during the past few days or something?!" My stomach sank as I said it because I knew that was exactly what he did. The bastard knew what his scent did to me. He was aiming to drive me crazy by making sure I could smell him everywhere while at the same time making himself scarce.

It was a sadistic form of teasing, and I was getting mad because, damn it, it was working. I balled the shirt up and moved to put it in the glove compartment. But the moment I opened the glove compartment, all the little chocolate kisses that had been stashed in it came pouring out, all over the passenger seat and floor of the Rabbit.

I didn't stash chocolate in my car.

I sighed. I looked at the Avengers HQ mansion with feelings of dread.

I got out, slammed the pink door harder than I needed it, and headed in. The Rabbit was pink courtesy of Thor's last volley in our ongoing prank war, and I had yet to think of a way to retaliate.

Inspiration struck me when I walked into the foyer and spotted Storm Breaker propped up next to the other desk in the room. I didn't sense its owner anywhere nearby. Oh, my foolish, foolish brother-in-law.

I opened a drawer to get out the pack of colored Sharpies...and a bunch of chocolate kisses sprang out and landed all over my desk. And there was another damn shirt.

I was pretty sure my teeth were going to shatter. I slammed the drawer closed before I got a good whiff that would make my panties wetter than they were.

I was still working on coloring in one of the shapes I had drawn on Storm Breaker with a purple Sharpie when Bucky walked in, saw what I was doing, and came closer to watch with amusement. "Needs glitter."

"I'm actually thinking of rhinestones," I remarked, switching the purple for a bright magenta which I used to fill in the lips.

I heard Bucky sniff, and felt him lean closer to me. When he sniffed again, I elbowed him away. "Stop smelling me, it's creepy."

"Are you wearing perfume? You never wear perfume."

"So? I decided to do something different today, sue me." All the good wearing it did. As strong as the cologne was, it did absolutely shit to block out Loki's scent when one of those fucking shirts were nearby. Combine his delicious smell with the smell of chocolate...Holy crap, I was going to melt into a puddle.

Loki would be lucky if I didn't tackle him and rip off his clothes when I finally saw him. I knew that was what he wanted too.

"Tracy? I think those lips are colored in, unless you meant to add a fourth layer."

"Make yourself useful and go see if we have any crafting stuff," I growled as I tossed the magenta Sharpie aside and snatched a bright green.

Bucky and I had ended up having way too much fun gluing "dreadlocks" made of orange yarn, googly eyes, and a "beard" made of cotton balls onto Storm Breaker. I had almost forgotten about the shirts and the kisses. That was, until I went out to my car and opened it to find another sweaty t shirt laid out in the driver's seat and the sun visor sporting a suspicious bulge. And Loki's scent was fresh.

"You. Are. Dead." I snarled, throwing the shirt into the backseat, then reached to the sunglass holder for my shades. The moment I opened it...

"ARGH!" I knocked the kisses out of the way, put the Rabbit into gear, and the tires squealed as I peeled out of the driveway. Leaving the shirt in the backseat was a mistake. Traffic was just heavy enough that it took me awhile to get to my destination, and my husband's smell teased and tantalized, along with the rich smell of chocolate. By the time I finally made it to my goal, I was feeling desperate.

I parked, gave the couple who ran the bakery a wave, and opened the door to the apartments above. My old apartment hadn't been rented out to anyone else yet. It was still empty, and when I opened the door, I saw the sparse furnishings hadn't been moved out either. There were still the chairs, sofa, lamps, bookcases, and table I had used when I lived here.

I needed to calm down, and for that to happen I needed to be somewhere that wasn't saturated with Loki's smell. Loki had never been in here, so I felt it was safe for me to take a deep breath...

...and so much for him having never been in here.

No. He didn't.

I followed my nose to the sofa, and pulled down one of the throw pillows. Stashed behind it was...

I snatched up the shirt, shook it in my fist while yelling at the ceiling: "This isn't funny!"

"It was rather entertaining, though."

I whirled around to see him leaning against the doorway into the bedroom. "You!"

Loki feigned an expression of indignant innocence. "Me?" He laid his hand on his chest, looking at me with wide sapphire eyes. I stormed over to him.

He was faster than me, grabbing me before I could grab him. He bent my neck to the side, baring it to him, and bit me. "Behave, Pet," he growled huskily. I whimpered. "I apologize, my love..."

I snorted. Yeah, right. And I received another bite for that.

"...as I was saying," Loki continued while I shuddered. "My brother insisted that the two of us attend something called a 'Polar Bear Plunge'. We have just returned."

I snorted again. "Don't give me that. I smelled you outside when I left..."

"I did not wish to interrupt you and Barnes. The two of you were quite engrossed in your project, and I will admit I found it intriguing. I look forward to witnessing my brother's reaction when he sees the results." He nibbled the lobe of my ear and my knees buckled. "I knew I may not be back before you were, so I had decided to leave a few reminders of me in your normal dwellings so that you would be hot..." His teeth found the joint where my neck met my shoulder. "...eager..." His tongue traced the shell of my ear. "...and..."

I managed to squirm in his hold and bite him back, right on his jawbone. "Shut up and take me already."

"Did I not tell you to behave, sweet girl?" Loki's fingers found my left nipple and pinched, hard, through my shirt and bra. Then he dragged me into the bedroom and the queen-sized bed that was still there, and hadn't been slept in since the last night I spent in this apartment.

He took his time, made me even more desperate for him...his touch, the sound of that dark lyrical voice, the way he tasted. The aphrodisiac that was his scent had left me aching, an ache he didn't hesitate to prolong. By the time he finally allowed me to sheathe and ride him, I was nearly sobbing.

Afterward, we laid on the bed while the sun began to set, casting the room in an orange-pink haze.

"So," Loki stated. "I have learned in the past few days that mortals are even more insane than I had thought."

Witnessing a bunch of people willingly dive into sub-zero temperature water would give off that impression. I contemplated telling him about when I did the Polar Bear Plunge. All five times. All of them back when I was still human.

I might save it for the next time I felt like messing with him.

"I have also learned," Loki continued, his finger trailing up and down my spine. "That the cologne I had purchased before you graced my life is much stronger than I remember, and you need another shower." It went without saying that the cologne was likely going into the trash.

"Have you learned anything, Pet, aside from how much you really love my scent, and that the smell of chocolate has the ability to stimulate you?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Yeah. Orcas are assholes."

I didn't have to look up to guess what the expression on his face was. "Care to explain, Pet?"

I told him, and we both learned that laughter is an effective aphrodisiac as well.