Chapter 12

"Let's play 'Never Have I Ever'" Jenny suddenly flounced, the girls dispersing their huddle from around the pair and grabbing a drink from the table in approval.

Maria leaned over and grabbed one too. She caught Thor's confused eye and handed him her drink, reaching for another for herself. "It's a game." she explained directly into his ear. "Someone says 'never have I ever...' something and whoever has done that something has to have a drink. Got it?"

Thor barely had time to nod before Jane kicked off the game across the booth. "Me first!" she declared, excitedly. "Never have I ever..." her eyes fixed on Maria wickedly, "Managed to tease a hottie like Thor out of his shirt."

The girls burst into squeals of laughter, and Maria chuckled against Thor's defined chest at the directed attack. Even Thor smirked, the silent rumble of his laughter reverberating through the small woman held to him.

Maria threw the drink down her throat fearlessly.

The game went on, Jenny taking over. The challenges posed were interesting; been arrested, lied about their sexual orientation to avoid a date, played strip poker, had a brush with death (Thor drank to that one, much to everyone's intrigue). All the while Thor watched, Maria, waiting to learn more about her. Her drink stayed firmly in her hand though, until it was finally her turn to lead.

Thor straightened up, interested.

He wasn't the only one: "Make it a good one Maria!" Jane called cackling.

"Yeah, something really embarrassing!" Abby egged on.

"Embarrassing..." Maria rolled her eyes thoughtfully. "Never have I ever..." her teeth clamped down on her lip shyly (surprising for how bold she'd been earlier, Thor thought) and her cheeks flushed slightly, her eyes casting downwards. Finally, she gulped and finished her confession. "Had a boyfriend before."

The reaction was astonishing. Instead of drinking their drinks, the girls leaned in, their mouths agape, letting out a solid "WHAT?" at the admission.

Then the questions flowed thick and fast.

"What, never?"

"Not once?"

"Have you been on a date before?"

"Have you kissed a guy before?"

Thor was suddenly unsure if he wanted to hear the answers, especially with Maria so protectively in his arms. No, he affirmed with an inward growl, he did not want to hear about her liaisons with other men. But there was no escape from it.

Maria ducked her head embarrassedly. "Not properly." she finally admitted. "Jason was never very liberal about me bringing boys home."

"Hold on." Jane leaned in eagerly. "Let me get this straight. You're twenty years old and you've never kissed a guy before?"

Maria's cheeks burned, and she seemed to sober up before Thor's eyes, returning to her usual mannerisms: her legs crossed consciously, her eyes dipping and her hands folding defensively over her middle. "Can you just drink your vodka already!" she half snapped. "Get over it."

Jane, however, wasn't letting this one drop.

"Oh no, honey. Even Thor could drink to that one!"

Thor gulped as Jane drew the attention his away, and averted his eyes from Maria when he couldn't deny her.

"I vote we switch to truth or dare!" Jane suddenly declared, a bright spark in her eye that made Thor uneasy. He could feel Maria stiffen too.

"Isn't that the same as 'Never Have I Ever'!" Maria snapped irritably, downing a drink from the table and burying her face in Thor's shoulder.

"Not if you get a dare." the bride to be winked.

"Jane..."

"I agree with Maria actually." Jenny chipped in, much to every one's surprise. "We need to get her drunk again before we start another game."

A murmur of agreement swept the table, and Maria groaned in Thor's lap. Battling his conscience, he agreed with the other women: he wanted the bold Maria back, the daring, reckless Maria that teased shamelessly in the short shirt and tricked him from his clothes. The Maria that grinned wickedly and drank impressively for a woman of her small stature. He wanted to see that Maria again, enjoying herself.

Arm around her shoulders, Thor reached forward, took a shot glass from the table and eased it in Maria's hand. She took it, an unwilling look on her face.

She drank obediently.

"I hate you." she breathed hotly against Thor's collar bone, as she clung to him once more, the alcohol once again taking over her system.

Thor grinned, leaning forward and pressing his lips firmly to her forehead. He still felt bad about purposely getting her drunk, but he couldn't stop himself. He was itching to see her brimming with confidence again, to see that seductive darkness once again take over her gaze. "You can beat me up some more when we get home." he promised, with a chuckle against her skin. His hand reached up and brushed the side of her face clear of her overhanging curls. He tipped another drink down her throat himself.

"I forgot about that." Maria grinned, tipping the side of her head to rest against his chest. "I was good, wasn't I? You didn't just pretend?"

"I honestly did not see it coming."

He ran the scene over and over again in his mind, as the girls took over his job of drunkening up Maria, pouring more drinks down her throat as she perched on Thor's lap. He grinned at the memory, at how both of them had been surprised by Maria's strength when she'd kicked him...

Finally, she flopped forward with a groan, steadying herself on her friends shoulder, her head bowed. "I can't take any more." she protested weakly. "Target him," she thudded her head into Thor's chest. "He's hardly had anything."

Thor's hand cupped the other side of Maria's head, gently holding her in place. He grinned into her hair when the rest of her body curled towards him to accommodate the position, her hand tugging at the place where his neck met his shoulder. "It would take a lot of drink to get me intoxicated." he warned more to Maria than anyone else, as the rest of the girls upped and ogled after a passing group of boys, leaving him and Maria temporarily alone in the booth.

She pulled herself up, turning into him. Thor tried to regulate his heart beat when he felt Maria's hot lips against the hollow of his neck. "Another one of your godly powers?" she breathed into his skin.

"Something like that." He sighed to the ceiling, tipping his head back. Maybe he'd let himself in over his head when he'd plotted to get her drunk again. "What is a hen-night?" he finally asked, trying to defuse the situation before he lost control of it once and for all.

Maria moved her mouth to his shoulder, and he could feel her grin against his skin. "It's a night where the bride to be celebrates with her girl friends before she gets married." She grew slightly heavier on his shoulder, and let out a faint groan. "I thought you were supposed to be taking care of me today?" she moaned, Thor feeling her eyelashes flutter against him as her body went limp. His hand hovered around her waist protectively.

Thor chuckled as Maria started to slip away. "I don't think this night has done you any harm." he breathed into her hair as she relaxed against him. "You seem to have enjoyed yourself."

A light, slurring giggle tickled his chest.

Just as the other girls jumped back unrulily into the booth, Maria fell back from Thor's body, his hands around her waist the only thing from keeping her dropping to the floor. Her arm slung around his neck, but she had no strength to hold herself upright.

"She looks out of it!" Jane squealed delightfully, knocking back another glass. "Nice job Thor!"

Thor couldn't help but grin. He wasn't sure if it was the pride that he'd gotten Maria drunk (and was getting praised for it!) or that he had the girl lying helplessly in his arms, completely dependent on him, that fuelled his arrogance. Frankly, he didn't care. He was even in such a good mood he reached across to the table for more drinks, his arm holding Maria's body safely to his. Maria groaned again as he leant back, her fingers clawing into his chest, rolling her cheek to his muscled torso. "Don't do that again." she pleaded, eyes screwed shut against the nausea.

"Right, Maria, truth or dare time." Jenny giggled mischievously, echoed by the rest of the gang of drunken women.

Maria moaned in protest, but couldn't say anything.

Thor's arm tightened at her back, her head lolling. Her eyes were flickered open, in the same hooded, dreamy expression they'd held earlier when she teased him out of his shirt. Coupled with her full, pink lips, she looked utterly irresistible. Much to Thor's delight she rolled her head back to him, against her friends.

They weren't giving up though, if the thought had even crossed their minds! "Maria goes first." Jane decided, and Maria found the strength and energy enough to pull herself up slightly against Thor and summon a glaring spark to her eye, that she fired squarely at the bride to be. Thor waited excitedly; the last game had been most amusing. And if the wicked glint in Jane's gaze was anything to go by, this one promised to be even better!

"No, Thor should go first!" Abby chipped in, her eyes blinking innocently as she took over. "Truth," she decided for him. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Thor blinked at her.

"You know, have you got a girl?"

Thor frowned slightly, but instinct told him to say no. Maria shifted temptingly in his arms. He was glad he answered as he had, for a beaming smile erupted on all the women's faces simultaneously, and Jane once again took centre stage.

"Right Maria." she grinned, like she could hardly contain herself. "Dare."

Thor's heart hammered in anticipation as he glanced down at the woman in his lap. A glare was fixed boldly in her seductively low hooded brown eyes, and he could feel her body stiffen. He grinned eagerly; if the challenge was something that got Maria so frustrated, it was sure to be something he'd enjoy immensely.

He glanced up to Jane to reveal it, but was surprised to find her eyes already on him. His heart stopped, suddenly dreading. Jane giggled naughtily.

"Jane..." Maria's voice warned darkly.

Jane ignored her, eyes still on Thor. "You can grin, mister." she said to him before she turned back on Maria. "I dare you to kiss him."

The world seemed to stop - for both of them! Thor could practically hear the plummeting of his and Maria's hearts as the challenge was laid on the table, a satisfied glint in Jane's eye. The music of the club seemed to drown out in Thor's ears, replaced with Jane's taunting words looping over and over again in his head. She wanted Maria to - he gulped, his heart thudding to life in his chest - kiss him? His gaze fluttered down and he met the same nervous uncertainty in Maria's eyes as he was sure were in his own. They flickered back to Jane in an instant.

"What?" she merely grinned under the two penetrating stares. "She said so earlier that she's never properly kissed a boy before, and what better first kiss than someone like Thor!" The girls didn't need to nod their approval; it was in their eyes, shimmering at the pair pressuringly.

Thor gulped a second time as he felt the heat of Maria's blush fire through her cheeks against his shoulder. His eyes found Jane again, and he tried to fill them with as much authority as he could muster, despite the distraction in his arms. "This is a cruel trick."

"No trick." Jane corrected. "Trust me, we're doing you guys a favour. Unless of course," Jane cocked her head to the side, "You don't want to kiss her?"

That woman, Thor growled in his head, as he felt Maria's flush deepen. She'd trapped him. Gods help the man she was marrying if this was what she was prepared to do to near strangers! His arms tightened protectively at Maria's waist, feeling her embarrassment radiate off her with a burn. Jane had cornered him well - of course he wanted to kiss Maria! But he couldn't just say that... could he? He knew that this world was more liberal with such relations but surely...

His throat ran dry as his predicament settled on him.

Whether he'd have to admit it or not, he was stuck. He had to kiss her. He had no choice - less he wanted to upset Maria by refusing her.

He was truly ensnared.

His eyes flickered down to Maria's and could practically see her sobering up right there before him. If he was going to do this, it'd be better if he did so before she fully came to her senses. Her eyes glittered up at him shyly.

He could feel her heart beat hammer through her as his arm flattened at her back, gently drawing her in. His hand tangled in the back of her hair, holding her in place, though she offered no resistance other than a delicate hand where his chest moulded into his shoulder. He could feel she was nervous, in nothing less than the hot breath that ghosted over his cheek as he angled her body back slightly, leaning forward.

The girls seemed to hold their breath, and Thor could feel their eyes riveted on him and Maria. He tried not to let it distract him, and focussed back on the girl pressed firmly against his bare chest.

His bright blue gaze tipped over her bright eyes, her blushing pink cheeks, trailing lower and lower until they found her plump, luscious lips. He pulled in a breath, feeling his barrelling chest swell against Maria's slight body.

It suddenly dawned on him - he was a god. The God of Thunder didn't have to do this if he didn't want to. He could crash down thunder and lightning at his will (things he knew were already lashing in the sky outside in nothing short of a physical embodiment of the emotions coursing through him) and he was being manipulated by four mortal women? It was something he'd normally laugh at! Yet here he was, the most beautiful woman in the world in his arms, her lips only millimetres from his as a consequence.

Sure, he didn't have to do anything if he didn't want to...

Only he did want to.

He closed the gap and pressed his lips to hers softly.