Chapter 8
Anthony Stark
I could tell Loki had been somewhat uncomfortable flying in a private jet with just the two of us. He had squirmed in his seat beside me on the couch for almost the entirety of the trip. He told me that he had never been on a plane before and, since it was his first time flying, he was extremely on-edge and very aware of every dip and turn the plane made. He nearly flipped his shit when the pilot had to reroute. I don't think I did anything to help him by mentioning that the plane had a built-in stripper pole that he had absolute free access to should he get the urge.
Pepper was one hell of a helper with him, too. I didn't see her on the plane (probably in another room or the cockpit in order to avoid being in the same room as the two of us), but her welcome wagon of pure hatred only made Loki's reservations about flying sour. She had given him this narrow-eyed, tight-lipped frown and spoke to him as though she were speaking to an evil overlord trying to reign over all of humanity.
However, I do have to applaud her for holding her tongue and not acting like a five-year-old being forced on a play-date with her nemesis from across the street. She didn't throw any insults and definitely didn't ask if he was the exotic dancer that gave me his feather boa; she looked at him, spoke a few words, and then disappeared. Considering the fact that I would be in California, possibly doing publicity galas, she would have to be there to "keep me in line." I'm sure keeping me in line involved telling J.A.R.V.I.S. and Happy that I was not allowed to visit any bars or clubs while in Malibu.
It was a vain move, actually, considering that I wanted to make my promise of keeping indoors (and possibly in bed) for the majority of the trip with my new lover. Er, not lover. Fling. Keep your head straight, Tony.
The inside of the Cadillac was cool compared to the hot, salty air that covered the city of Malibu, and while I was never impressed with the fresher air and more space between buildings along the shoreline, Loki seemed absolutely enthralled with the scenery. He also found palm trees interesting. Palm trees. Dear God, if I were to take this man to China to see the Great Wall, he would probably lose his mind.
"This is your first time out of the Big Apple since you moved?" I asked with a chuckle, glancing to the front seat to see the back of Happy's head as he weaved in and out traffic in order to get us to the house quickly. "You must not get out very much if Malibu impresses you."
"In case my last job hadn't made my brother's and my financial standing clear enough for you," he started with a smirk, "we barely had enough money to get by as it was. If we even attempted to take a vacation and leave the city we were living in, we would have to skip meals to make ends meet. Or, if necessary, I would have to do extra favors . . ."
"You know what, just enjoy the fact that you're here. I do not need to hear any explanations." I threw my hand up to stop him and he grinned and went back to his sightseeing through the open window.
I made sure to keep an eye on him in case he decided that something was interesting enough for him to have to crawl out of the window to investigate. Luckily, I only had to tell him to keep his head inside the car once. He was saucer-eyed the entire ride to the house, and once we were inside, he was still saucer-eyed at the size of it.
Pepper walked past him up to me, clipboard hard against her chest and lips pressed into a hard line as she glowered at me. I smiled as sweetly as I could at her as Loki helped himself to a couch cushion. "You look proud of yourself," she said in a low voice.
"I feel rather proud," I admitted, stealing a glance over to Loki as he stared longingly down at the beach. Had he never been to one? Oh, this would definitely be a vacation to remember.
"Well, here's your schedule, not that you'll follow it at all." She handed me a small folded pamphlet. I opened it and looked inside. Ugh, more damn galas. I wasn't surprised, exactly, but I definitely wasn't thrilled.
"That thing next week . . ." I gestured towards the planned evening. "Can we just, um, not go? I'd rather not leave the house much this month. I have plans with someone." Loki seemed to sense his reference in the conversation and glanced back. I winked his way and got one in return.
"I wish, but that evening is a very important to your reputation, since it's a special event that you yourself host every year at the Disney Concert Hall. So, unless you plan on dropping your perfect attendance for every year, then I highly suggest you be there on time. At least by an hour, if not on the dot."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," I joked, and then leaned over and kissed her cheek. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Loki giving me a pensive look. Pepper didn't appreciate the teasing as much as I did. I chuckled and put a hand on her back. "Buy yourself something nice on me for that evening."
"I intend to," she said coldly.
Pepper turned her back on me and approached Loki. She gave him the same cold stare she always gave the girls (and the occasional guy) I brought home. Loki didn't give her a shy glance from beneath his eyebrows like he did when I teased him. Rather, he looked up at her and gave her a sinful smirk. He even took her hand and kissed it. When he did, her cheeks flushed bright red, and she smiled. She even pushed a lock of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear.
As she stammered, Loki sent me a devilish smirk, still holding onto her fingers with his slim, pale hands. He winked and then looked up at her with a small smile as she handed him the same schedule she had handed me. I felt my eyes narrow and my brow furrow together. I did not like the look of Loki and Pepper smiling and talking together. He was completely confident and upfront with her. With me, he was more reserved. I didn't appreciate that.
Loki looked over the schedule as Pepper explained what each event was for and what time I normally left for them. She gave him a smile as he kissed her knuckles in farewell. She turned to me, gave me an appraising look, and I just growled at her to hurry up and leave. Loki smirked when she was gone and raised his brow in expectance of a challenge.
"Where did that come from?" I asked, gesturing towards my hand in reference to his "chivalry." He looked up at me with a grin.
"Well, you've shown her your appreciation in your own way; why not show her mine?" he retorted, sliding his shoes off. I bit the inside of my cheek and sighed.
"All right, fine. No more 'expressing our appreciation,' okay? I don't kiss them, and you don't kiss them. Especially not Pepper." I approached him as he looked at me tentatively, right brow cocked. He pursed his lips before smiling. "Have we got a deal?"
"We do." He chuckled. "I never thought Tony Stark would get jealous over someone showing affection. Did I do something to earn such an honor?" Loki shifted himself from his backside to his knees, leaning up so that we were almost eye-to-eye. I narrowed mine and stared intently at him, waiting for him to make the next move.
I leaned over and kissed him and put my arm around his waist, pulling him towards me and dominating his mouth. He welcomed me eagerly, throwing his arms around my shoulders and running his fingers through my hair. He groaned against my mouth. We separated as I was desperate to catch my breath.
Loki looked up at me and smirked, proud of the obvious arousal he had caused in me. I frowned in response and was rewarded with a slight chuckle. He kissed me again, and I pulled away from him. He didn't appreciate the loss of contact.
"Shall we move to the bedroom?" I offered, taking his hand and pulling him along with me. He showed a total lack of regard for furniture as he easily climbed over the back of the couch so as to not break the contact between us. The smile that lit my face was one I had no control of.
When we were locked inside of the room, J.A.R.V.I.S. muted and the windows tinted until we were in complete darkness despite the shining, cloudless day outside, we began to meld and move together. I could feel everything I touched; hear every breath from his lips and from mine. I hadn't ever felt someone's entire being the way I had felt his. It was almost magical.
I memorized every dip in his skin, how it felt beneath my fingers. I could distinguish a few patches of skin that were different from the skin around them. Were they scars? How had he gotten them? I'd have to ask when our intimacy wasn't currently in play.
Loki and I were a bundle of wanton groans, wet, slick skin, and heavy breathing. We were attached at the mouths, our hips, our fingertips. No area went unnoticed or untouched by either of us. And I loved it. I hadn't been with a man in quite some time, and I surely regretted not finding Loki and somehow getting him into my life sooner. The sex was fantastic, as I quickly realized, and I was beginning to feel a pull towards him.
My hands raked his scalp as he rocked and writhed beneath me, fingernails scraping against my back. They would surely leave thin red lines on my back that would be very visible in the morning, I was sure. But that didn't matter, and the speculation I would get from the press didn't matter either.
Loki was no longer a fling to me, and as we rode out our orgasms, panting and kissing each other, I felt guilty for Pepper. Pepper and I were never going to continue a relationship again, like she had wanted. I collapsed beside him, burying my face into my pillow and trying to catch my breath as Loki lay sprawled beside me, his chest rising and falling in time with mine.
I didn't think about my actions as I rolled over onto my side and pulled myself to Loki, nuzzling his neck. He welcomed it gladly, placing a hand on the back of my neck and leaning his forehead against mine. With no small amount of light to filter into our eyes, I wasn't able to make out a single bit of his face. All I saw was pitch black, all I heard was his breathing, but I felt everything. I could feel his hand on my skin, the sheets tangled around my legs, and a bead a sweat trailing down my neck from behind my ear.
The smell of sweat and sex and our breath lingered in the air. Loki's hair was matted down by his own sweat, and even though my sight was lost to me, I could almost sense the smile on his face. I wasn't sure why I was confident that he was lying beside me with a silly grin on his face, and anyone's guess was as good as mine, but I knew that he was.
I let my hand trail up from his chest to his shoulder and to finally rest on his neck. His pulse beat beneath my fingers and began to slow from its racing. I raked a thumb over his sharp cheekbones, feeling his breath as he sighed. I grinned in return, hoping that maybe he would be able to tell I was smiling as well.
"Moving a little fast, aren't we, Tony?" he whispered, voice shaking. I could feel him trembling and tightened my grip on him. He chuckled but still panted. "You told me only a few days ago that you were not gay, and you definitely weren't into me when I was taking my clothes off in front of others."
"Yeah, well, that was before," I admitted, finding his hair and petting it carefully.
"Before what?" He trailed his fingers up my arm to take hold of my hand, stopping me from playing with his hair. The apprehension in his voice was obvious. I rolled my eyes, knowing well that he wouldn't be able to see, and sat up, reaching the blankets. I could feel his hand fall from my neck and hear it hit the mattress.
"There's no reason to talk about it now," I said, pulling the thickest of my sheets over us. "Let's rest. Maybe start that up again later."
Loki laughed but I could hear the doubt in his voice. I draped my arms over him and pulled him to me, feeling his arms tighten around me, his hand returning to its previous place on the back of my neck. I sighed as I let my chin rest on his head. What the hell was I getting myself into?
Loki Laufeyson
I opened my eyes, swearing I had only closed them for a few moments. I had to blink for a few moments to make sure that I had not lost my eyesight, but the memories of earlier events came flooding back in an instant. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and blinked again to make sure my eyes were not still shut. After a few moments, I rose.
As I sat up, the tint on the windows began to fade, and my eyes adjusted quickly, muscles straining in them. I closed them and rubbed the soreness away as a robotic voice called out the time and the weather. The forecast appeared on the windows that showed the clear, blue water lapping at the shores of the beach far below. I looked out in awe and stared shamelessly at the scenery. It definitely beat the view one gained from an apartment in a city.
I stretched my arms up and arched, feeling my back pop in a few places and groaned as I felt my muscles loosen. I yawned and popped my neck before quickly gathering my clothes and covering myself. Wouldn't want to accidentally flash someone, would we?
"The shower is open for your use, Mr. Laufeyson," J.A.R.V.I.S. (I think that was his name) said as I plucked my shirt from a nearby chair. Did I accidentally bump into it last night? My leg hurt when I stood, and I hadn't had time to distinguish between the bruises and the hickeys yet. I doubt Tony had bitten the back of my leg earlier, though. How unsexy would that be?
Having Tony's A.I. speak to me from the ceiling was still quite a shock. I looked up at the ceiling to see if I could find a microphone or a sensor somewhere where I could throw my voice, but the corners and walls were entirely blank. I opened my mouth to say something, paused, and said quietly, "Er . . . what time is it now?"
"It is half an hour past twelve, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied. "And don't be afraid to speak a little louder; you will not look like a fool when speaking to me."
"Oh, sure." I clutched my shirt in my hands nervously. "You're not going to watch me in the shower, are you?"
"There are not many places Mr. Stark does not have his cameras placed, but one of those places is his own bathroom. And although I do tend to watch over the cameras, I am not a peeping tom. Your privacy will not be violated by me."
I wasn't sure if I detected a hint of sarcasm in the robotic voice or not, but I didn't question. I walked into the bathroom and twisted the knob for the shower. Hot water sprayed down as I stripped myself again and dove beneath it. Gooseflesh popped up over my arms and legs at the relaxing sensation that came with the shower. I leaned against the side of the stall and ran a hand over my hair, watching the water drop from the end of my nose.
Memories of earlier in the day came rushing up to me, and I felt myself blush as I remembered many of the things Tony had said to me between grunts and heaving breath. Most of them were very hard to translate because my mind had been so overwhelmed by everything I had felt and heard that I could barely even form coherent thoughts. I did remember, however, him promising me that there would never be someone after me. I would be his last. And that made my test tighten with joy.
The eccentric playboy was actually going to settle down with someone, with me, and I was barely able to wrap my mind around it. I pushed my hair back as I turned the water off and came out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my waist. I did my best to dry myself off before pulling my pants back on and draping my shirt over my arm.
The sound of heels clacking against the wooden floor made me look up, and the bedroom door swung open. Strawberry hair flashed golden in the sunlight as Pepper, his secretary, walked into the room and looked up from the device in her hand. She opened her mouth to speak and suddenly sputtered, looking me over quietly. She cleared her throat and gathered herself.
The smile on my face came by itself and I stood in the room, purposefully forgetting to put my shirt on, and waited for her to regain her composure. After a few more moments, she swallowed, sighed, and said, "Your stay here will have to be cut short due to a small inconvenience."
"I have to leave now?" I asked, feeling my right brow raise. Pepper cleared her throat and looked away, back down to her electrical device.
"No, not now. Definitely not now. However, Mr. Stark had to leave for a board of directors meeting, so you will have the entire afternoon to yourself. If you wish to sight-see and look around the town, I can call a car for you that will take you anywhere you will want to go." She typed on a few buttons and looked back up. "If you wish to stay, J.A.R.V.I.S. has commands to make sure your stay is comfortable. Mr. Stark will be away for most of the day, possibly until late this evening."
"I see . . ." I sighed from aggravation, having spent the time we had together this morning sleeping. It may have been the jetlag and it may have been our rigorous activities from earlier. All I knew was that I had been exhausted after our romp in the sheets, and I had slipped into sleep after curling against Tony's chest and closing my eyes.
"Is there anything else you'll need, or will that be all?" Pepper's brow rose to her forehead as she waited for an answer from me. I almost physically recoiled from the sour tang coating her words. I ran a hand over my wet hair and took a deep breath until my chest refused to take in anymore oxygen. I let it out heavily and locked eyes with her, making sure she wouldn't turn away.
"Something tells me . . .," I started, moving in closer towards her until we were inches apart, me towering over her small frame. She seemed intimidated but didn't move away as I continued, ". . . you don't seem to like me very much. Why would that be?"
Pepper blinked a few times, her mind searching for an answer to my question. She looked down, swallowed, and then backed away.
"That was entirely out of line." She turned away and stormed towards the doorway. Once there, she paused and waited. After a while, she turned back towards me. "I don't dislike you, Mr. Laufeyson. You've given me no reason to dislike you. Rather, I feel sorry for you."
"Sorry for me?" I repeated. My ego felt bruised and I stepped towards her. "What do you mean you feel sorry for me? For what?" She was quiet, not acknowledging me and keeping her back towards me. I felt insulted. "What have I done that has incurred your sympathy?"
"Absolutely nothing," she replied with a shaking voice. She refused to turn and face me, but her grip on the device tightened in her hand. "Have a good afternoon."
And then she left. I was standing in the middle of Tony's bedroom pondering over what she had meant by feeling sorry for me and why she felt she needed to. I dropped my shirt onto the bed sheets and walked out into the living room, catching a glance of Pepper entering the elevator and watching the doors close on her. She didn't seem to see me. I was glad. Like I needed to go another round with her.
I sighed and threw myself down onto the black leather couch in Tony's living room, staring outside at the beach scenery from the windows. The bright atmosphere didn't seem so wonderful anymore. My little spat with Pepper had killed my elated mood.
"Hey, um, J.A.R.V.I.S.? Are you there?" I asked, my tone completely giving away the lack of confidence I was beginning to feel.
"Of course, sir."
". . . Have Ms. Potts and Tony . . . Have they been very intimate lately?"
"I cannot disclose private information about Mr. Stark's personal affairs, especially not of that caliber."
". . ." I sighed and closed my eyes, listening to the call of the seagulls outside as they searched the beach for food. The bustling of the city would possibly get my mind off of Pepper's words. I shot up and looked back at the ceiling, finding J.A.R.V.I.S.'s cameras or whatever it was Tony used to contact the program. "Is that car for me still out there, J.A.R.V.I.S.?"
"It is waiting for you whenever you would like to use it."
"Perfect!" I jumped up and nearly fell over onto the glass coffee table in front of me. After banging my knees against it hard, I moved away from it and rushed to the bedroom. "I'll be leaving in about an hour! Let the driver know for me, please?"
"Already done, sir."
