Phantasm

Chapter 7

My fist tightened around Loki's hair while I dug the tip of the scissors into his throat, not hard enough to break the skin but hard enough to at least be painful. As terrified as I was that everything would go bad fast, I couldn't help but feel an enjoyable rush of adrenaline while I held him there.

So this was what it was like to not be the vulnerable one... Having the god of chaos at my mercy was exhilarating.

However, my enjoyable adrenaline rush was short lived. An arm shot upwards from the water, and in a loud splash of water, with strength that I was not expecting, his arm reached behind him and locked around me, tugging me over his shoulder and into the water. In the few seconds it took me to realize what had happened, I became aware that not only was I under water, but that he was holding me down, his hands gripping down on my arms as he moved on all fours and pinned my legs down under his. I tried to fight back, but he had me pinned so well I could barely even squirm.

Just as I began to accept that I was going to die this way, his legs moved off me and his hand took hold of the back of my neck to pull me up, leaving me to cough up water and gasp for air as I halfway hung over the edge of the tub. After a moment, I felt his grip move to my hair, and I was pulled backwards, my back colliding into his chest as the scissors I'd dropped were now open with the exposed blade pressed against my neck.

"Oh how I love our little visits," he growled mockingly in my ear. "You really do know how to make a great entrance."

"Fuck you!" I sputtered.

He pressed the blade further into my skin until I was sure he'd drawn blood, and I remained perfectly still, waiting to see what he was going to do to me. "Have you really come here to die in this manner, you stupid girl?" I didn't answer and he released my hair, running his fingers through my wet locks, combing it away from my face and behind my ear, the scissors still in place as he whispered, "Or did you return for something more intimate than death?"

His free hand reached in front of me, trailing his fingers over my collar bone and gently down my cleavage, his palm moving over to cup my breast. My breathing hitched in the back of my throat and I lost focus. He could have killed me right then and there, and I knew it. But instead he teased me, his face moving to kiss the back of my head as I closed my eyes, unable to fight my growing arousal. I tried to convince myself that he had me under a spell to distract me as his hand moved from my breast to beneath the water massaging over the dress I'd stolen and finding its was between my legs.

Had my jeans not still been on underneath, causing me to barely feel him stroke me, I would have come undone.

My senses returned and I pulled my head forward, snapping it backwards so that it collided with his face. Loki gave an enraged shout as I was released, his hands cupping over his nose, and I scrambled out of the tub, falling out on the other side like a damp rag. As I moved to get to my feet, his hand was on my hair again, gripping down and tugging me backwards in one swift motion until my skull cracked against the porcelain tub with a loud crash. The stars that flashed in front of my eyes was the last thing I saw before I was violently brought into unconsciousness.

"Tell me about the first time he hit you..."

I opened my eyes slowly, my head throbbing as it rolled lazily from one side to the other, trying to make my vision clear itself enough for me to see where I was. I was submerged in perfectly warm water, and I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sensation of relaxation wash over me. A pair of hands were massaging my scalp, adding to the comfort, and I began to regain my bearings as I looked around, realizing slowly I was in the tub... and I was naked.

I snapped upright, the water splashing around me. The sudden head rush made me nearly fall back as I grasped the edges of the tub to steady myself, and behind me I heard an annoyed sigh. "If your goal is to receive another concussion, then by all means, try that again."

"Shut up, Loki," I grunted in response, hanging my head until my vision stopped spinning and I could look behind me. Loki was sitting fully clothed with his arms folded over the edge of the tub. His eyes went to my breasts and he smirked. "Apparently you aren't breastfeeding." I reached across to slap him, but his hand came up and caught me by the wrist, stopping me.

"The guards will see this!" I threatened.

"They will see what I make them see," he said, and I realized then he must have had some sort of illusion set up in case someone looked in. No doubt they would be unable to hear me as well. His hand on my wrist tightened its grip, and I slowly turned my back to him and rested my back against the tub, my body acting completely on its own with me unable to stop it.

"Amazing isn't it? What I can easily do to an unguarded mind..." he whispered in my ear. As he held me by the wrist, I discovered I couldn't move anything no matter how much I willed myself to. I was trapped in my own body, and the more I became aware of it the greater the desire to move anything at all became.

"Let me go!" I said in a frustrated voice. He said nothing, but I knew he was smiling, enjoying my increasingly uncomfortable state. I felt claustrophobia begin to creep over me and panic set in. My breathing became gasping and tears rolled down my face. "Let me go!" I screamed.

"Hush," Loki whispered. His free hand grasped the side of my head, his fingers pressing into my temple, and all at once the same calming feeling I'd felt earlier returned. "I'm not going to hurt you, Anna."

My breathing was nearly back to normal, but tears still fell as the desire to move was still pressing. I was completely at his mercy and I loathed it. After a minute he hand from my head and I simply sat there as his fingers began to massage some sort of scented oil in my hair, his other hand still holding me by the wrist. "Did he ever do this for you?" he asked after a few minutes. "Care for you? Pamper you? As though you were his queen?"

"No," I answered, unable to shake my head.

"Did you want him to?"

"I accepted that he wouldn't," I stated flatly.

"That wasn't my question," he replied with a hint of irritation. "Did you want to be his queen? Or did you want to simply be his object to be beaten or mounted into submission?"

I contemplated the question for a moment before answering honestly, "I wanted him to care for me at first..."

"But by the end?"

I felt tears in my eyes as I answered, "I just wanted him to want me."

I felt him pour a pitcher of water over my hair as he asked, "Did you love him?"

"Always," I answered, barely needing to think about it. His hand released my wrist and all at once my body was free to move again, bringing me a great rush of relief. I massaged my wrist and looked over to see him stand up and walk to the edge of the tub, holding his hand out to me.

"Trust me," he said, and in his eyes I saw no threat. Slowly, I reached over, taking his hand and he helped me out of the tub, retrieving a towel and proceeding to dry me off. Once he was done, he wrapped the towel around me and, to my surprise, picked me up into his arms, carrying me to his bed. "Lay on your stomach," he said as he sat me on the mattress and removed the towel. I began to fear where exactly this was going, but there was a look in his eyes that I was unfamiliar with yet still made me feel strangely safe. I obeyed, resting my head in my folded arms as I laid down.

Loki disappeared into the bathing chamber for a moment, then returned with a bottle of oil in his hands. He sat himself on the bed and proceeded to pour a little onto my back, leaning over to spread it as his hands began to gently massage me. I closed my eyes and groaned, feeling wonderful beneath his touch.

"Your muscles are in knots..." he commented as his thumbs bore inwards to massage them. "All those years of pain... I can practically feel their effects with my fingertips." I said nothing and he moved downwards towards my lower back. "He never once took care of you like this, did he?"

"No," I answered. "He didn't."

"And yet you loved him..." he mused. "I bet you craved this more than anything. Almost as much as you craved to be loved."

"I learned to do without," I muttered. His hand clamped down on the back of my neck and he pulled me upwards til I was on my knees, taking me by the shoulders and turning me til I was facing the mirror at the other side of his cell.

"You surrendered, Anna," he said with an intensity in his eyes. "You were his queen but you let him cast you from your throne and make you his dog. You gave in to the lie that you did not need to be loved." His hands ran down from my shoulders and reached over to my breasts, cupping them as he moved his mouth to my ear. "You learned to do without and in doing so you let him extinguish your fire, leaving you to try and ignore how much you longed for it to be re-lit."

He began to kiss my neck tenderly and I relaxed against him, his hands starting to slowly massage my breasts until my nipples grew hard beneath his fingertips. "How long have you wanted this?" he asked me. "How many years since you surrendered?"

"I don't know..." I moaned, closing my eyes as I let his every touch wash over me.

"Then I will give you what you want," he whispered, one of his hands trailing down my stomach until it found its place between my legs, his fingertips caressing my clitoris. "I will make you feel loved. Just this once."

He removed his hands and I turned to face him as he captured my lips in the most passionate kiss I had ever received in my life. His hands cupped my face as he laid me down, and his lips moved down, trailing hot kisses down between my beasts, and then migrating to one of my breasts, his tongue flicking over the nipple. I groaned, running my fingers through his hair, and his mouth covered over the hardened bud, teeth gently nipping at it and his hand massaging my other breast.

I moaned gently, closing my eyes as he drew wave after wave of pleasure from me, and he pulled his mouth off my body for a moment, whispering in a voice filled with desire, "You truly have no idea how beautiful you are..." I opened my eyes to see his own staring back at me, but instead of lust there was something else... something I couldn't quite place.

He moved himself downwards and spread my legs, his tongue tracing over my sex in a painfully slow manner. I gasped and reached back, my fingers clenching into the pillow behind me. My husband had never once done this to me, and I had only imagined what it would be like. His tongue was incredible as it skillfully found its way through my folds, flicking itself over my clitoris which sent even more waves through my body.

"Oh god...!" I moaned, and he groaned as if my own sounds were arousing him. I felt him gently slip a finger inside of me, and I clenched my walls around it, greedily wanting to feel every ounce of pleasure I could. He worked his fingers inside of me while his tongue worked on the outside, rendering me into nothing more but moans and heavy breathing until at last I felt my release drawing close.

I came hard, my body shaking as I bathed his fingers, and he pressed a warm kiss against my stomach, sitting up so he could remove his tunic and pants. Instinctively, I moved to return the favor, reaching my hand over to his hardened manhood, but he took hold of my wrist and shook his head, climbing over top of me and pinning my wrist to the pillow. "This is for you," he said in a silky tone, beginning to kiss my jawline. "Think of yourself as a goddess to be worshiped. Allow yourself to be a queen once again."

He positioned himself between my thighs and slid himself into me, moving painfully slow as he began to thrust. His lips stayed near my ear, allowing me to hear every ragged breath as he moved, and I wrapped my arms around him, my nails digging into his bare back as I moved my own hips into his to deepen the sensation.

An overwhelming warmth was spreading through my body and for the fist time since I'd lost my virginity years ago, I truly felt I was becoming one with someone. The feeling of his body pressed to mine, the sound of his breathing, the way he was letting me know that I was the source of his pleasure and that he truly desired me... it was something I'd never known. I had become accustomed to being a source of release, not desire.

His pace began to pick up, and he raised his torso up from my own, looking into my eyes as I locked my legs around him. I clenched myself around him and he closed his eyes, letting out a deep groan as he picked up his pace. "You've no idea what that does to me," he gasped and I smiled, bucking my hips into his to encourage him to move faster.

All at once his thrusts became violent, his hips slamming into me as I felt him hit my core, and I cried out, keeping pace with him through each earth shattering thrust. I was close again, and I could tell he was as well by the way the muscles in his arms and legs began to twitch. He lowered his lips to my ear once again, biting at my lobe and I wrapped my arms around him in an embrace, crying out as we reached our orgasms together, moaning each other's names incoherently.

I lay still for a while, my arms still around him as I panted, and his own body trembling from the force of his climax. Eventually, he picked his head up, kissing me once more, tenderly.

"How long have you longed for this?" he whispered.

"Too long..." I muttered, releasing him to rest my arms above my head. He slowly rolled off me and lay on his side, coiling an arm around my waist as he drew me close, spooning me.

"How did it make you feel?" he asked, kissing my shoulders as his fingers caressed the side of my arm.

Smiling I whispered, "Like a goddess."

His fingers curled themselves in my hair bringing a small portion of it up to his lips for a kiss, and I watched our reflection in the mirror as his eyes locked on mine. "Then I have given you what you want," he said, his expression growing solemn. "But know this: it will not happen again."

I felt a stab of heartache as he spoke those words, and I stared at his reflection in disbelief of the fact that I'd just been used. "What?!" I snapped.

His expression did not change as he spoke. "It will not happen again. Not until I've given you what you need."

Rage filled me. More cryptic statements? Now?!

I twisted around, wanting to face him rather than his reflection, and began to cry, "What do you mean by that?!" but once I twisted around to face him, he was gone, I was back in my chambers in the palace, and I was fully clothed and dry, the scent of lilac gone as though it had never been there.

I scrambled to my feet, looking around my room, and as I began to fear none of it had been real I buried my face in my hands, digging my nails into my scalp as I growled out, "FUCK!"