Against the odds, Aemilia did her very best to find order and organization within the new normal bestowed to her life. In the weeks following hers and Loki's new agreement, she learned how to spend her days acting like a normal human being and her nights being something else entirely, and she fought to keep the two sides from overlapping.
Dagr was away training for the next month, so she at least did not have to deal with his presence for the time being. The courtship still loomed over her head in the form of her mother, however, and no matter how often Aemilia tried to express her dismay and reluctance, it changed nothing. Each time she came away from another futile conversation with Ayre, Aemilia channeled her anger and frustration into her nightly activities, and she knew she shouldn't - it was allowing the lines she'd drawn between her days and nights to blur - but she didn't know what else to do.
Loki seemed to especially relish the nights that she'd come to him angry. Slowly, the more she came to him, the more she let her guard down and began to establish herself in the bedroom. He taught her how to touch, how to kiss, how to use her body to please his, how to use hers to maximize her own pleasure, and he wasn't at all reluctant to lavish praise upon her quick learning skills. The better she became at knowing what he liked and how he liked it, the more her confidence grew, and she found it all surprisingly empowering. He didn't just use her for his own purposes and then send her away, not a single time, and she couldn't pretend that it didn't surprise her. But, she was slowly concluding that he did it for his own ego purposes - the more she moaned and fell apart at his touch, the more he could revel in his own impressive abilities as a lover.
And they were impressive, that she full well knew without needing prior experience. She had to actively not think about his touch when she sang, or think about his seemingly tireless tongue as she studied lines for two new productions she was auditioning for at the theater. Just as she was learning what made him tick, he only became better attuned to her as the nights passed, and she could almost be embarrassed at how quickly and how often he could make her see stars. She'd had no idea her body was capable of what he made it do, and she was shocked at her own appetite for him - Loki did not give her nights off, and she was sleeping less and less, but yet every night when she would retire to her room at home, she would find herself nearly giddy in anticipation of feeling his arms enclose around her from behind and vanishing her to his palace room.
Aside from light banter and topics related to their activities, they did not talk a great deal. Aemilia didn't know what he did with his days - he'd either gotten better at watching her in secret or didn't do it as often - and he wasn't overly concerned with what she did with hers. She didn't stay the night in his room - he always took her back to hers when he'd exhausted her for the night - and some nights, she noticed that he would barely kiss her lips. She thought it was strange, but all of it was strange, and she supposed that this was simply how these strictly-sexual affairs happened.
In those first few weeks, she became used to her new routine, and she depended on it to keep her sane. She felt a semblance of control by having her days to herself, and she clung to to it as tightly as she clung to Loki's silk sheets at night. As long as she could continue to function normally without anyone discovering her secret, it made her feel much better about the inevitable impending doom of what she'd gotten herself into.
Then, naturally, Loki went and ruined what little peace she had and couldn't have been more pleased with himself about it.
She had stayed late at the theater one day, rehearsing with a few of her friends as they prepared for parts they hoped to land in two new plays. One was a sweeping historical epic based on one of many Asgardian wars of old, and another was an adaptation of a classic romance that was among Aemilia's personal favorites. She was trying out for parts in both, competing friendly with a few of her friends, and on this day - like many others - she was the last of them to leave.
She was gathering her things in the dressing room, tossing her two scripts into a satchel and barely glancing up when she heard the door open. She heard the swishing of skirts and then looked behind her to see one of her friends, a blonde named Esa, hurrying in with her own bag in her hands.
"I forgot my script," she smiled, and Aemilia smiled back.
"Good thing you remembered before you went all the way home," Aemilia said before standing and fixing her sights on the door.
"Oh, yes. Hey - Aemilia?"
She turned mid-stride and smiled. "Yes?"
"Since we're alone," the girl said, dropping her voice down lower, "I was wondering if I could ask you something."
"Sure," Aemilia shrugged.
"You seem... different lately," Esa smiled. "I can't quite put my finger on it, but... something's going on with you, isn't it?"
Damn. Aemilia feigned confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know... something about the way you carry yourself. It's different. I noticed the same thing in my sister a few years ago. She had..."
"What?" Aemilia pressed.
"Well, she had... you know," she wriggled her eyebrows suggestively, "with a guy for the first time."
Aemilia's mouth opened, but nothing came out.
Esa'a eyes widened. "So I'm right!"
"No, I -"
"Is it Dagr?"
"No," Aemilia snapped a little too quickly, as if the very thought repulsed her.
"Then who?"
Aemilia sighed. "Nobody, Esa. Really."
"Then why are you blushing?"
She laughed, not meaning for it to sound as nervous as it did. "I'm not!"
"You're hiding something," Esa grinned, stepping closer, and Aemilia sighed again. "Come on, you can trust me. Have I ever betrayed your trust before?"
She hadn't, but that was because Aemilia hadn't trusted Esa in particular with much in general. In fact, her secrets had been few and far between up until some weeks ago. "Well... no."
"So tell me!" Esa smiled. "Is it a noble?" When she got no response, she pressed, "A lesser noble? Nine Realms!" her hands flew to her face. "Your night at the palace!"
Aemilia felt a slight sense of panic coming on. Esa surely wasn't this clever, was she?
"Who was it? If it wasn't one of the nobles... was it a warrior?"
Aemilia rolled her eyes. "No, because this person that you think exists does not."
"Fandral the Dashing, perhaps?" Esa speculated. "You did mention how he flirted with you. You also said that the Prince had words with you, as well."
"Esa -"
"Is it the Prince?" Esa's eyes positively sparkled with the scandalous suggestion.
"Firstly, no, and secondly, I do not know which prince you refer to."
"Prince Thor, of course. Not the lesser one," Esa said, crinkling her nose in distaste. "Prince Loki's so... pale. And skinny."
"Not all women prefer Thor's level of brawniness," Aemilia shrugged. "But I can assure you, nothing transpired between myself and either Prince. Although, it bears saying that Prince Loki was far less drunk and grabby than Prince Thor, so perhaps you ought to reevaluate your opinion of the 'leaser prince'."
Edna's eyes twitched in what appeared to be surprise. "I don't believe it."
"Believe what?" Aemilia asked, very close to exasperation.
"Prince Loki," she said in disbelief. "It was him."
"No," Aemilia said firmly. "Why won't you believe me that there's nobody?"
"Because it's obvious!" Esa said, smiling. "Look at you! You are so flustered!"
"Because you're questioning me as if this were an interrogation!" Aemilia protested. "This is ridiculous! I told you there is no one, so leave it!"
Esa never stopped grinning, but she did eventually nod and then make for the door. Aemilia sighed as the girl passed her, staring at the floor when she heard her speak again. "It's a shame, you know."
"What?" Aemilia asked, not bothering to look behind her.
Suddenly, a large hand snaked around her side to press against her stomach, and a decidedly not female voice replied in her ear, "How bad of a liar you are, my dear Aemilia."
Eyes wide, she spun around and gaped at the sight of Loki mere inches away from her, dressed in what she could only describe as "semi-casual" armor, wearing his usual grin with a hint of something darker in his green eyes. She looked around the room wildly, of course finding no sign of Esa, because Esa had not ever been there in the first place. Anger quickly rose to replace her shock.
"This - is my work!" she sputtered. "You can't just show up here like this!"
He chuckled through his nose and brought a hand to her cheek. "Oh, Aemilia, we've been over this before. I do as I please."
"But you agreed -"
"I never agreed to not come to you during daylight hours," Loki pointed out. "I simply have not chosen to until today."
She didn't like this - the routine she'd been clinging to for normality's sake had just been obliterated, and Loki couldn't have been happier about it. "But -"
"Oh come now," he cooed, closing the already barely-there distance between them and taking a fistful of her hair in one hand while the other arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her to him. "Don't tell me you've never fantasized about something of this sort before."
At the moment she couldn't recall one way or the other, but she knew he was probably right. She closed her eyes as his lips pressed to her neck, sending little sparks of electricity through her chest and straight down between her thighs. The fight was over before it had even begun.
Before she knew it, she was sitting directly in front of the dressing room mirror, her back to it and her legs wrapped around the Prince in front of her, vaguely hearing the sound of a prop mask and little pieces of makeup skittering to the floor around her. Loki's hands were on her hips and his lips were dancing along her cheek and then her jaw, everywhere but her lips, and suddenly he pulled her to the very edge of the dressing table, and her hands desperately grasped his hair for balance.
"I must say," he said lowly, pulling down a small sleeve of her dress and pressing his lips to her bare shoulder, "I do appreciate the kind words you thought you spoke to your friend regarding myself."
She rolled her eyes, wanting to throttle him for tricking her. Instead she gave his hair a good yank - by now she knew it would only further turn him on but she did it anyway - and pried his face away from her neckline to glare at him. He only smirked down at her and added, "Please, allow me to express my gratitude properly."
His lips crashed upon hers, and she reeled under the force of it. She would have been content to be only kissed by him for countless minutes, but Loki tended to use kisses merely strategically, a tool to make her do as he wanted, and it always worked perfectly. A moment or two of his tongue teasing her own and his teeth nipping at her lip followed by his hands wandering and squeezing and feeling her rapidly responding body left her a panting, pliant mess of desire, just as he'd intended.
Her long skirt was pushed up to her waist, and when he ground against her, she felt every bit of him through his clothes, further spiking her adrenaline as he suddenly pulled her down to her feet and then spun her around. The sudden motion left her almost dizzy, but his hand slid up the front of her neck from behind and grasped her chin, and he growled into her ear as he forced her face up, "Look."
Her eyes shot up and her breath evaporated as she found herself staring at Loki and herself in the large dressing room mirror. His hand fell from her chin and moved back to her hair as the other held her dress up around her hips, and he stared at her reflection with the same strikingly hungry look that put shivers in her spine each night. She could do little else but stare mildly slack-jawed at the mirror, taking in the sight of herself in the arms of the dark Prince, and she found the sight to be almost intoxicating.
They looked good together. She hadn't known until that moment.
His hand in her hair tightened and he yanked her head to the side, latching lips to her neck as she let one of her hands snake up into his hair, her eyes never leaving the mirror. His teeth grazed over her skin and his tongue soothed over where he bit softly, earning him a little mewl from her lips before the hand of his that was holding her dress moved to her leg underneath, then to her thigh as the skirt hung pinned between his forearm and her hip. He trailed his fingers up the smooth skin and brushed her center, and he glanced up to find that she was still gazing heatedly at their reflections.
"You like this," he smirked against her ear. She sighed as his hand began its work on her, not bothering to deny it, and he pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist as her fingers destroyed his previously immaculate black hair.
He did not mean to draw this out, she knew by the quickening pace of his fingers, and it was only when she'd begun rolling her hips against his hand and tugging a little too hard in his hair that he withdrew his hand gave her an ungentle push from behind. She stumbled forward with a surprised yelp and braced herself on the table, palms down and gripping the surface, and impossibly quickly, she felt herself bare to him underneath her haphazardly shoved up dress. One of his boots kicked softly at her feet, nudging them farther apart, and then she felt his hardness brush against her from behind as his arms enclosed around her once more. She looked up to the mirror to find his lips centimeters from her ear, and a small smirk on his lips as he met her mirrored gaze. "This won't take long."
Indeed it wouldn't, she knew as he slid within her from behind. Her body had become literally molded to his in the last few weeks, and she no longer felt any traces of discomfort when first entered her. She felt only a pleasant ache that would only grow as he moved, and this time it was amplified even more than usual by the odd but fascinatingly arousing act of watching it all unfold before her eyes.
Mostly she watched Loki. She didn't always watch him like this, usually barely able to see or comprehend anything through the pleasure he wrought, and when she did try, it would be just a glance here or there before her eyes fluttered shut of their own need. But now, at this vantage point, she could see him clearly, and what she saw made her chest ache.
His eyes were closed and his lips were parted against her cheek as he breathed roughly through his mouth, not a trace of strain or anything besides lust and contentment on his pale face. His hair framed his face, looking perfectly disheveled from the deliberate work of her fingers, and as a titillating groan left his lips, she came to realize for the first time how truly beautiful he really was.
As if he could sense her thoughts, his eyes opened and met hers in the mirror, and his pace quickened simultaneously. He wrenched her up slightly and she reached up and over her shoulder to grab his hair for balance, her other hand still bracing on the counter, and one of his arms pinned her back to his chest as the other sent his hand back between her thighs to urge her release from her.
Suddenly overwhelmed, her eyes closed just like they always did at this point, but this time Loki's voice in her ear demanded otherwise. "No. Open your eyes. Watch yourself as you come."
Her eyes popped open and she let out an undignified moan at his words, but she only halfway obeyed his commands. When she felt herself begin to spiral down her end, instead of watching herself, she fixed her eyes upon the Prince behind her. His tongue was drawing up her neck and his chin was hovering above her shoulder, his own gaze not breaking from her for even a second. The sheer hunger and intensity of his stare seemed to amplify her sudden spasms of pleasure, and she fell happily into oblivion, taking him with her as she went, and she somehow kept her eyes open to watch him.
After, as Loki held her limply and Aemilia felt oxygen return to her brain, she watched something peculiar take place within the mirror. When he had reached his own climax she watched his walls come down, his guard giving way to the temporary ecstasy and leaving him looking... young, and even vulnerable for the short moment in time that it had lasted. Then, as he opened his eyes and drew in a deep breath, the walls came back up, and he looked to her with a smirk.
"You continue to pleasantly surprise me, little one."
He withdrew from her and straightened her up with his hands before he stepped back. Her skirt hit the floor and she absently pulled the sleeves of her dress back to where they were supposed to be as she turned to face her lover. Aside from the state of his hair, he looked like he might have just strolled in from some royal event. Meanwhile, Aemilia knew she looked a wreck.
She stared at him, still breathing a bit heavily, fighting the sudden and overwhelming urge to grab him and kiss him. There was no clear reason to - their "quickie" was over, and she knew she wasn't supposed to want to kiss him right now. They weren't a couple, they were lovers - but she couldn't tear her eyes away from him, not while his hair was hanging so freely around his face, framing it's paleness in a contrast that made his green eyes suddenly seem like the most beautiful things she'd ever seen.
"You're rather quiet," he said, breaking her train of thought and stepping closer to her. His gaze met hers before moving up slightly, and she looked down as he ran his hand over her hair - not through it, but just above the strands, from the top of her head to the very tips of her hair. "There. You are presentable once more."
"Thank you," she replied, in a tone so soft it made her cringe. She looked up to him and found herself unable to look away from his lips, wanting nothing else in the world but another taste of them, but all he did was smirk and graze her chin with his finger before turning and walking away.
"Until tonight, my lady."
She sighed and brought a palm to her face, sagging her shoulders and wondering how in the world she had yet to feel even an ounce of regret since this had all begun.
Contrary to popular opinion - or at least his brother's opinion - Thor was not a bumbling idiot. He was fully aware and accepting of the fact that he did not not share Loki's level of intelligence, in a broader sense, but Thor was more than clever in his own right. For example, he knew his brother better than anyone, and where others fell for his lies without so much as blinking, Thor had learned how to see through many of them from a very young age.
On this day, Thor had managed to drag Loki with himself, the Warriors Three and Lady Sif on a hunting venture outside of the shining city. It was the first time in weeks that he'd managed to get Loki to actually spend a day with him, and Thor had enjoyed it greatly - it had been a day of good-natured jests and good talks, all of which were far too loud to have gotten them any success in their hunt, but that was fine. Thor had missed these days spent with his brother and his friends, but on the ride back to the palace, Loki had said he wanted to conduct a brief search for some sort of plant he needed for potions near the mountainside and would catch up with the group near the city's main entrance. They had been waiting now for nearly twenty minutes, and the Warriors Three had grown restless.
Thor sent them on their way, telling them to go ahead while he waited, and they did so, but Sif stayed by Thor's side. It was not more than five minutes later that Thor caught a glimpse of his brother atop his horse, finally arriving at the designated meeting place, and the first thing Thor noticed was that Loki was not riding towards them from the direction of the mountainside.
"Brother," Loki greeted jovially, riding up to Thor's side and ignoring Sif entirely. "Did I keep the warriors waiting for too long?"
"You had me worried, Loki," Thor said seriously as the three horses began trotting towards the city. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"In a manner of speaking," Loki replied vaguely, and Thor narrowed his blue eyes upon his brother's appearance.
Before Loki's departure from the group, he had looked as he always did - perfectly put together under a head of perfectly smooth raven locks that a single strand did not touch his face from. Even when riding on a galloping horse, Loki's hair barely moved, and Thor knew it was a testament to his brother's rather astounding amount of vanity that this was so. However, that same hair was now quite free-flowing, and Thor could read the almost imperceptible self-satisfaction written on Loki's face even if nobody else could.
Thor couldn't help but grin, still staring at Loki as the younger brother glanced up and raised a dark eyebrow in return. "Despairing at my superior looks again, brother?"
"Are you ready to tell me her name?" Thor asked, still smiling broadly.
"Whose name?" Sif asked, interest suddenly sparked.
"I know not of what you speak," Loki said in a bored tone, looking ahead of them as they crossed into the city's open gates.
"Since when are you so intent on keeping this sort of thing to yourself?" Thor asked, genuine confusion coloring his words. "Surely you cannot think me so dull as to not notice the signs, Loki."
"Oh, I do not think I care to hear where this conversation is likely headed," Sif chuckled before speeding up ahead of them. She glanced back to the princes and smiled. "See you both at the hall!"
Loki gave her a curt nod, and Thor returned her warm smile before turning back to his brother. "Well?"
"Well what?" Loki shot back, mildly irritably.
"Out with it!" Thor grinned. "Tell me about this secret love of yours!"
"There is no secret love, I assure you," Loki replied through somewhat gritted teeth.
"Loki," Thor said slowly, "remember whom you are speaking to. I know you better than anyone in this realm, with the possible exception of Mother, do I not?"
"You do," Loki conceded.
"Then you must know that your lies do not always trick me as they used to. I have watched you disappear like clockwork every night for the last several weeks, and sometimes you are gone to only Heimdall knows where for the entire day. And your mood has been unprecedentedly pleasant ever since this began!"
Loki grinned. Heimdall knew nothing of his whereabouts, but Thor didn't need to know that. "I do not disappear. I retire to my chambers, nothing more."
"But with whom?"
Loki rolled his eyes.
"Did you also think I would not notice that you were not riding back from the mountainside as you had claimed?" Thor asked. "In fact, it looked to me as if you had just ridden out of the city and was circling back to fool me."
Loki did not think Thor would notice - not because Thor was too stupid, but because he genuinely thought Thor would not have cared.
"And I should not even mention your hair, Loki - it looks as it does when you first stumble from your chambers in the mornings."
"My hair, Thor?" Loki asked incredulously. "Are you jesting?"
"No!" Thor laughed. "I am only confused as to why you seem so determined to keep me in the dark about this! Since when do we keep such secrets from one another? Are you ashamed of this girl?"
"No, but -"
"So there is a girl!" Thor laughed.
Now fully irritated and sick of this conversation, Loki turned to Thor and said, "Why is it so hard for you to grasp that maybe, for once in our lives, I would like to have one thing to myself and not have to bother sharing it with you like I do everything else?"
Thor's previous smile quickly faded to a confused frown at Loki's unexpectedly angry words. "That's truly how you feel?"
As quickly as the anger had appeared, it vanished and Loki's expression became his usual blank, neutral one. "It matters not."
"I disagree."
Loki didn't want to argue, so he kept his mouth shut. Thor did as well, until he couldn't contain his next question.
"Is it serious?"
"No," Loki scoffed. "Only a bit of fun."
Thor furrowed his brows, wondering why in the world Loki would then want so desperately to keep it to himself if it was not even a serious interest he had in this mystery maiden.
Which brought Thor to his next question. "It is a maiden, yes?"
"Shut up."
"Aemilia! You're home!"
Aemilia closed the front doors of her home behind her and immediately felt a sense of dread overcome her at the sheer enthusiasm in her mother's voice. It was rarely a good omen. Ayre appeared then in the hallway, grasping a piece of paper and an envelope in her manicured hands as her blinding smile further scared Aemilia to death. "I have the best news!"
Biting back a sarcastic guess, Aemilia plastered a smile on her face. "Really?"
"Yes! Your hair looks especially nice today," Ayre absently commented, touching the brown and red waves that had been magically smoothed by Loki before refocusing on her news. "So - this just came from Dagr. He will be having some time off after his training has ended, and he has invited you us to a banquet at the palace! The banquet is being held in honor of a delegation from Vanaheim, and -"
Aemilia didn't hear much after "banquet at the palace". Last time she had been invited there, it had been impossibly exciting and most welcome news, but now all she could think about was the stress and misery of enduring a night on Dagr's arm while her mother flitted about happily with the nobility and Loki's inevitable presence put her so far on edge that she would probably end up drinking herself into an idiotic stupor to cope.
Then, still not hearing her mother rambling on about the banquet, Aemilia suddenly mentally slapped herself. She was a maiden of very noble stock, being courted by a respected and reasonably handsome member of the Royal Guard while also being ravished nightly by one of Asgard's very own princes, and this would be her return to the palace after having impressed the King and his court with her voice only a month prior. What had she to fear or dread? What was her disadvantage? How many girls would utterly kill to be in her place?
Then she mentally slapped herself yet again. Was her double life and growing list of deceptions really something to be proud of?
"... So that's taken care of, and I've already sent word to our dressmaker to make something fabulous up for us, and fast... oh! Come with me, let me show you what I was thinking we could do with that hair of yours..."
Aemilia sighed and allowed her mother to drag her through the house by her wrist, eventually deciding that, as was the expression, she had made her bed, and now she simply had to suck it up and lie in it.
Loki read the same paragraph of the open book in front of him five times without even halfway comprehending the words. He sat at his desk in his room, staring sightlessly at the book as he twirled a small hair clip in one of his hands while the other hand held up his forehead. His lover had unknowingly left the little thing behind during one of her recent nights there, unlike the first time she had left a hair clip in his possession, and also unlike that first time, he hadn't given it back.
He closed the book with a sigh and glanced at at time - still a bit early for him to go and fetch her from her home. He continued to twirl the little violet-jeweled clip between his fingers, not at all surprised by how this little singer had gotten under his skin in a decidedly short amount of time. He'd forgotten how brilliant it was to take a girl with no experience and teach her, mold her into a lover who knew only his wants and desires and those of nobody else. She caught on to everything so quickly, and exceeded his expectations again and again, and rather than become bored with her, he found himself looking forward to their nights with more enthusiasm each passing day.
She was perfect for what he wanted - she did not try to converse with him too much or bore him with details of her life that he didn't care to hear, but she was also not at all meek or fully submissive. She gave in to him at every turn, yes, but she did so only because she completely wanted to. He sensed the fire within her and also sensed that she was holding it back. She was like a caged animal, forced within the confines of a life and a society that didn't do her spirit justice, and her limits were pushed more and more the closer her engagement loomed on the horizon. She distracted herself with him and their affair, but he knew she'd crack one day. He would probably be a contributing factor to that cracking, if he was being honest.
He couldn't help it. She was fun. He watched her shock herself with how wanton she could be, how utterly a slave to pleasure she became at his urging, and it made him want her all the more. He wondered what more he could coax of her and what kind of creature he could mold her into, given enough time and lack of outside interference.
Thor had been a fool to refer to her as a "secret love". Loki had no illusions about himself - he did not fall in love, he became obsessed. Then over time, the obsession would wane, he would get bored, and he would move on. It didn't happen as often as it used to in his earlier youth, however, and Aemilia had caught him by surprise. She was the first to garner his attention in longer than he cared to count. He'd almost forgotten how distracting it was to be so obsessed with another creature - it was actually quite hard work.
He glanced at his old clock on the wall again, and promptly frowned. The time was crawling by at a snail's pace.
That was just too bad, he decided. He stood up and ran a hand through his hair, then tucked her hair clip into his pocket and vanished. Aemilia would just have to deal with an early night.
After dinner, Aemilia made haste for her room and had her handmaiden draw her a bath. She was tired and frustrated and knew that Loki would be showing up soon, and she at least wanted to have a good bath before he came and deprived her of yet another night's sleep. She also needed something to help cleanse her mind of her mother's overbearing glee regarding the palace banquet.
Once she was in the bath, she dismissed her handmaiden and went limp in the lavender-scented hot water. It felt marvelous, and she let her mind go blissfully blank as she leaned her head back against the rim of the tub and closed her eyes.
She didn't realize that she'd fallen asleep until a very familiar silken voice awoke her with her a start.
"It's dangerous to fall asleep in the bath, you know."
Her entire body jerked so hard in surprise that she sloshed the Prince with water, which wasn't too hard to do, as he was perched comfortably on the side of her tub. When her shock ebbed, she placed a hand over her chest and rolled her wide eyes as she tried to slow her breathing. "For Valhalla's sake..."
He chuckled and patted his clothes dry where she'd splashed him. "I'm not intruding, am I?" he asked cheekily.
"Not at all," she replied sarcastically, almost moving her arms to cover herself and then realizing how stupid that idea was. "You would never intrude on me in my own bath, and certainly not in a dressing room, either. You are the very picture of propriety, Your Grace."
He did adore her mouth. "Have care how you speak, my lady. You wouldn't dare speak disrespectfully to your Prince, would you?"
"I would never dream of it," she replied, watching his eyes leave hers and trail down what flesh was not hidden by the water. His hair looked exactly as it had earlier, and the seemingly genuine, non-predatory smile on his face was something she wasn't quite used to. Just his proximity was enough to set her skin on fire. "Perhaps the Prince would forgive my insolence if I knelt before him and... apologized."
His eyes snapped back up to hers as quick as Thor's lightning. She'd caught him by surprise - for that matter, she couldn't believe what she'd just said either - and it took a second or two before the grin she knew well spread across his lips. "Such... vulgar innuendo for a lady of nobility. You make me proud."
"Only proud?"
His grin widened, and she was suddenly no longer exhausted. She was, however, quite done with her bath, and he seemed to sense this. He held out his hand and one of her towels suddenly materialized in his grasp, and he stood as he motioned for her to do the same. "Come on, little temptress. Let's get you dry so I can make you wet again."
Heat flushed her cheeks as she complied. She could sleep when she was dead.
It wasn't until much, much later that night, as Aemilia found herself thoroughly worn out and once again exhausted in the midst of Loki's immense bed that she was able to think vaguely clearly again. She was under the bed's thinnest sheet and watched Loki as he lay next to her, not covered by anything, his eyes mildly glazed as he curled the end of a lock of her hair around his finger. He looked tired himself, and she found herself wishing for the first time that he'd let her stay tonight. She'd never not slept alone - the alternative sounded like something that would be nice.
She knew he wouldn't allow it, however. That was fine. It was surely for the best.
"There is to be a palace banquet honoring a delegation from Vanaheim soon," she spoke softly. "Dagr's invited me and my family."
His eyes met hers, vague interest breaking through his haze. "Oh?"
She nodded. He was lying so close to her, yet no part of their bodies were touching, save for his fingers playing with her hair. She again found her gaze drifting to his lips - she wanted to kiss them until they both fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.
"Then I suppose that I shall see you there," Loki said simply.
"You won't..."
"I won't what?"
She sighed. "You won't... do anything, will you?"
He smirked. "You mean give us away? Stare at you longingly as your pathetic intended dances you poorly down my father's hall? Steal you away for a dance of our own and cause a scandal with the way that I'd hold you and place my lips upon your neck?"
She pursed her lips. He didn't have to make fun of her to make his point.
"No, no, Aemilia," he said, pulling the sheet from her body and then crawling on top of her. He cradled her face between his hands and looked down at her lips as he said, "The question is, will you give us away?"
He leaned in, and her eyes closed as she prepared for the kiss that she welcomed from him so eagerly. Her lips were already parted and waiting for his, but they never came. She opened her eyes to find herself back in her room, alone in her own bed. With a huff of exasperation, she grabbed a pillow and placed it over her head before promptly passing out.
A/N: eeeeeeeeee this has gotten a lot of followers! Thanks equally to the reviewers and followers, I'm super grateful to you all :D I'm also grateful as always to midnightwings96 for her help and encouragement, she's da best :D anyway, hope you all like this slightly shorter chapter. Next one's gonna be gigantic like the first two. Anyway, love you all, keep the reviews coming :D