Okay, so here's the "hidden scene" to Cheating Death 2, chapter 11. I wanted this scene in there but I didn't want to up the rating just for it. I know I could have made it darker, but I decided against it.

Tip - if you haven't read my "Cheating Death" stories the foundation is that Astrid was killed, Hiccup brought her back to life, and now she has kind of a weird sixth sense things going on. And during this particular scene, Astrid and Hiccup are traveling on Johan's ship to a distant island to do something related to the plot of the second story.

Okay, onward!

Cheating Death Two - Chapter 11 Hidden Scene

The spirit world remained a constant blur. The temple, houses, and chopped memories all blended together in a fury of darkness. Spirits were in a stupor. They wailed and cried and moaned but none seemed any more threatening than a flopping fish. The ground shifted and changed and no one place stayed much longer than a few minutes. Or it could have been hours. It was hard to tell.

Astrid fought to wake up. Thunder shook the seas and lightning flashed and lit the lower deck in a harsh otherworldly light. Her body was stiff and she her muscles groaned as she stretched. The bed beside her was warm. Hiccup was sleeping next to her. His arm lay above her head and his chest rose and fell with even breaths.

The sea was turbulent but despite that she closed her eyes to return to sleep. A scruff finger ran along cheek and she reopened them to see Hiccup's arm reaching across his body to hers. In the bright lightning illumination his green eyes were darker. His skin was shallow and pale. He looked sick, but she was sure he wasn't sleeping well with all the motion. She'd never had a broken rib and didn't know how it hurt.

Yes, that was the reason.

"You know, I missed you." Hiccup whispered. His voice sounded deeper as a whisper, smoother. It was sweet, nonetheless.

"You weren't gone long." Astrid smiled.

Hiccup rubbed his chilled thumb along her cheekbone. Lightning lit up his pale face, flashing across his darkened eyes, making shadows play across his skin.

"I'm glad you're okay." Astrid whispered. "I didn't know what I was going to do without you."

He shifted onto his side and leaned into her lips. His skin was cool but his lips were soon warmed against hers. She welcomed his touch but was careful to avoid his injured ribcage. But she didn't push him away. She kissed him back, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth and eagerly accepted his hot tongue onto hers.

He shifted, leaning over her, and pushed her down into the furs as his kissed hardened. She let out a playful moan into his mouth, one she knew drove him mad, and tangled a tired fist in his messy hair. She was willing to let him take the lead this time. In recent days they'd had so little time for each other.

He supported himself with one hand and roamed her stomach with the other. Their tongues fought a war as his hand grazed her chest, grabbing hold of a breast and squeezing, ushering out yearning moans from the back of his throat. Astrid hesitated before a kiss. Romantically speaking, Hiccup was never this…aggressive. Not that she was complaining, of course. This new side of him was…exciting. She kind of liked it.

But…

"Hiccup," Astrid mumbled between his lips.

He broke apart from her lips and pushed himself onto his knees. He followed her gaze to the little doorway of their makeshift room. He leaned back to it and pulled the curtain over it. He was then back on top of her, crushing her mouth with his, pushing her into the floor, and nudging his legs between hers. He settled comfortably against her, despite any pain he must have felt, and urged his groin into hers. Moans melted from hot tongues and hairs were lost in bed-tangled hair.

"Hiccup, he'll hear us."

"No, the ocean's loud enough. As long as you don't scream."

He said this into her neck and she took it as his natural sass, but something about it seemed off. He'd said it flatly, factually. His tone…was off.

He wedged his fingers underneath her skirt and pulled it loose. He pulled it down her legs and tossed it against the ship's hull. He worked the armor from her shoulders and worked her shirt up and over her stomach. She did not fight him but she wished it was warmer. The cold sea air leaked inside and the ocean spray left the ship in a freezing dew.

He pulled is own shirt over her shoulders and tossed it. In the dark the dangerous bruise across his stomach didn't exist. Out of sight, out of mine, right? He tugged his boot off and his pants followed. Astrid started to push down her own and Hiccup yanked them away faster than she'd generally allow him too. But she let it slide. She'd yell at him later.

In the darkness there was a sensation of mischief, of secrecy, of delinquent romance, and it made her skin sizzle from his touch. He ran his hands down her bare legs and left kisses from her knee, up her thigh, lingering on her hip bone, up her stomach, her chest, her neck, and onto her lips. He'd never done that before. It was…thrilling.

She was lost in his new tactic when he pressed himself into her. She gasped, feeling the sudden insertion, rapid intimate connection, as he poised himself over. He kissed her, hovered his lips over hers, which released a shuttering moan with every thrust of his hips. She clenched his back with her fingers and dug into his cool skin with her nails.

His aggression continued. He was thrusting harder, almost painfully so, but a part of her enjoyed it. They weren't rough with each other. Astrid hadn't understood the rough romance that she heard about. How did being mean make sex better? However, now the idea was clearer. There was something about it, the need, the urgency, the domination, that threatened to suck her in.

His pleasure was melting into hers. All at once it erupted and he heaved a victorious sigh as he collapsed onto her, smacking his lips into hers, sweat from his chest leaving a cold impact on hers.

"Hiccup," Astrid whispered.

"I love you." Hiccup whispered, fingering her hair.

A balloon of warmth expanded in her chest, causing her heart to hammer and skip, her lungs expunged their air. "I love you, too. But we should get dressed now instead of waiting for Johan to walk in."

"We should?"

"Unless you'd rather greet Johan in the morning with your bare ass."

"Point taken."

The lull of the storm made sleep feel far away but in Hiccup's welcoming arms that was fine. She could lay here for a week without having a thought of moving. In his arms her dreams were stable. The screams and shadows were at a distance, like they didn't want to get to close.

Astrid didn't remember falling asleep. She barely remembered dreaming. It was in Hiccup's arms that she woke in the morning. The water was smooth and the clouds were sparse.

X

For those of you who have read Cheating Death 2 - there are more hints in here about something that is happening that I don't want to just come out and tell you. I kind of feel like I made it too obvious in this little tidbit here, but that's okay.