To Thor's chagrin, the men agreed to return home with him the next morning. Which meant the return trip would take longer. Which meant he felt obligated to help pack everything up. As much as Thor wanted to leave them behind and race back to the palace, he couldn't, in good conscience, do it. So, with great resentment, he stayed. Though he worked fast, Thor's anxiousness made him irritable. He snapped at the men when they slowed down. He cut corners and had little care for keeping things neat. Everyone could tell he was in a foul mood. Even when he was quiet, the gray storm clouds that churned overhead were a telltale sign of the prince's ire.

Sif was smart enough to avoid him completely.

Ready to leave in record time, they all set out together for the day and a half trip back home. Thor grew more and more impatient as the group made its way. Leaden with their supplies and their spoils, they made slow time. Thoughts of Loki ran constantly through Thor's head. She haunted him. She coursed through his veins. She drove him to the brink of desperation, and after half a day of too slow travel, Thor couldn't stand it any longer.

He led his horse up to where Volstagg, Hogun and Sif were riding.

"What's got you so antsy, my friend? It's not like the palace is on fire!" Volstagg quipped. Thor tried to grin, but he was pretty sure it more resembled a grimace.

"I just...need to get back." Thor chanced a look at Sif and saw her scowling. He knew he had to patch things up with her, make them right. but now was not the time for it. "Volstagg, Hogun, keep the men together. Make camp when night falls, do not travel in the dark. I will ride on ahead and meet you at the palace."

They nodded, and though Thor knew they both had questions, they respectfully asked none. Let them ask Sif, if they really wanted to know.

Thor thanked them and rode off. Bjartr seemed to understand his need to get back and allowed Thor to push him hard. Hooves pounding, crimson fabric of his cape flowing behind him, they thundered through the trees, like a streak of white and red lightning. And Loki was his lightning rod.

They made good time and dusk was just turning into night when he broke through the border of the woods. Thor headed straight for the stables. He dismounted and handed the horse over without a word, then made his way up to the palace. His mind was already there, in Loki's room, in her bed, caressing her skin.

Usually much fanfare awaited Thor when he and his men returned from a hunt. All the nobles would gather in the dining hall for celebratory feasting and highly embellished storytelling. Noble women and wenches alike roamed, flirting with the men, with Thor. Thor would pick one, occasionally two, to accompany him back to his room for a night of drunken debauchery. The feasts and ensuing romps had always been one of Thor's favorite parts of their hunting expeditions. Now, food and festivities were the farthest thing from his mind. He only wanted one thing. Only one woman.

Loki.

However, when he burst through her door of her room, ready to take her into his arms and kiss her, he found the room dark. Deserted.

"Loki?" Thor called out softly, though he could tell she wasn't there. Thor dropped his pack and turned up one of the lamps, illuminating the room. Her bed looked freshly made, nothing seemed out of place. No sign of anything that would cause Thor to worry. He wandered over to her desk and glanced down at the books and various vials and jars that were spread out around them. What was this? He hadn't noticed the items before, nor did he recognize the books. Curious. Something to ask her about later.

Figuring she was in the library or kitchen, but would return soon, Thor decided to get himself ready for her. After a week in the woods, he knew he was filthy. Even his own mother had always refused to hug him upon his return from a hunting trip until after he'd bathed. And if Loki returned to find him naked in her tub, well that would be quite a treat, Thor figured.

Thor called for a servant to come collect his dirty clothes and bring him fresh ones, then he ran a bath. Still, Loki did not return. He soaked for a while, allowing his muscles to relax and the dirt to loosen its grip on his skin. Still, no Loki. He finished up and dressed again in the simple cotton shirt and pants that the servant had left for him. Where was she?

Finally, Thor could wait no longer and he set off to find her.

However, after an exhaustive search of the palace, he still hadn't found her. When he checked in the kitchen, the cooks told him they hadn't seen Loki in two days. She had not visited them, nor had she been in her room when they sent over trays of food. Unusual, they claimed. Their worry fueled his and his heart thudded in his chest.

Fandral. Thor made his way quickly to the healing room and silently stole inside. Fandral was there, laying asleep in a bed. Thor breathed a sigh of relief. Good. His still bloodied mouth twisted in a grimace of pain, even in his sleep. He looked terrible, and now Thor felt a bit guilty for thinking the worst of him. His friend's injuries were more grievous than Thor had realized. He was no threat to Loki in this condition.

Night had fully descended by the time Thor returned to Loki's chambers. Confusion, anxiety, even anger bubbled in his blood as his heart pumped it through his body at a furious pace. Loki, his Loki, was out there, in the dark, and not only did he not know how to get to her, there was nothing he could do about it. Had she been taken? Had she left? The hour was too late for any kind of wandering or social visit. Something must have happened to her. Thor growled and held Mjolnir in a white-knuckled grip. But there was no target here. No enemy to slay. Nothing but impotent rage and an empty room.

The All-Father would know. Thor didn't often seek his father out for assistance. It made him feel foolish, childish. A little boy running to his father for help. But there were only two people in Asgard who would know Loki's whereabouts no matter where she roamed, and Heimdall was much farther away.

Thor stormed out of Loki's door and was halfway down the corridor when he realized he was not dressed appropriately enough to seek counsel with the king. Even a prince needed to follow protocols, so Thor hurried back to his own room to grab at least his cape and a few easily put on pieces of armor.

As soon as he entered his room, he knew a visit to Odin was unnecessary. The flicker of a bedside lamp cast a dim glow over his chambers, but Thor didn't need light to know Loki was there, sleeping soundly in his bed. Every cell in his body hummed in response to her proximity and the relief that flooded through him nearly brought him to his knees. The prince closed his door behind him, set his hammer gently on the floor and went to her.

Like a moth to a flame, Thor was drawn in, and he knew he was on the verge of flying too close. Of being consumed. It was exhilarating and terrifying all that the same time. But as he gazed down at her in the faint, flickering glow, studying her as he toed off his shoes and stripped out of his clothes, he knew the truth. He was already consumed. Loki had completely engulfed him, and it was glorious.

Loki's short silk nightdress clung to her curves as she lay on her side above the sheets, black hair impossibly dark across his pillow. Her pale face, usually kept guarded, hiding untold secrets, was now serene, relaxed with a hint of a smile playing at her rosy lips. He wondered if she could sense him in her sleep and if he was the reason for her smile.

Laying before him, Loki was a vision, intoxicating him more thoroughly than the strongest mead. And when he crawled into the bed next to her, the heady effect of her nearness was palpable. His head swam, thoughts swirling in an unfocused haze of arousal and need and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on. All of this from merely the sight of her, the smell of her. Oh yes, he was fully in her thrall. No chance of escape now.

But after a week apart, seeing and smelling her wasn't enough. Though he knew he should let her sleep, let his own weary body rest, there was no stopping his desire. Starting just above her knee, Thor let his fingers trace the line of her outer thigh. He caught the hem of her gown, pulling it up over her hip and gasped when he found her bare beneath it. Blood fled his brain and headed south, leaving Thor dizzy.

"Mmmm, Loki," he purred into her ear, squeezing her bare behind with rough hands. Loki responded immediately, waking with a shriek and scrambling out of his grasp.

Thor sat up and reached for her. "Loki! What is it?"

Loki crouched on the edge of the bed, staring at him with wild, unseeing eyes for a few moments. Then she blinked as the fog of her sleep cleared and recognition seeped in.

"Thor...?" she breathed and a heartbeat later, she was in his arms, clinging to him tightly, murmuring his name over and over.

That was more like it.

Loki trembled as if afraid, but Thor's concerns were forgotten when she kissed him, frantically, fervently. One slender hand fisted into his hair, the other found his rapidly swelling cock and stroked it until he was hard and straining. Out of his mind with arousal, Thor could do nothing but sit and allow this magnificent creature in his lap to writhe against him.

Pulling off her nightgown and tossing it to the floor, Loki straddled him. Eager little thing, Thor thought, and he grinned darkly. She wasn't the only eager one. Thor held his cock in his hand, sliding it teasingly across Loki's sex before positioning himself at her entrance, the promise of that tightness nearly driving him mad. But when Loki began lower herself onto him, Thor wrapped an arm around her and stilled her. His mouth at her neck, Thor bit down hard and when she cried out, he thrusted his hips up, burying himself in her heat.

"Loki!" Growling her name against the fresh wound on her neck, Thor nearly came right then and there from the vise-like grip her sex had on him. So tight. Thor held her still for a few moments while he backed down off the edge of orgasm and then loosened his hold on her. Immediately, she began to rock her hips, moaning wantonly as she ground herself into him. Thor guided her, lifting her and pushing her back down. They worked together to build a steady rhythm, each of them racing to the same goal.

Thor reached between them, to the junction between Loki's legs just above where their bodies met, and with his thumb, he ensured Loki reached that goal first. He watched rapt as she came apart in front of him, shuddering, her beautiful face even more stunning with her ecstasy etched on it. Thor kept his steady pace until her tremors waned and she began to breathe again. Then, holding her close to ensure he stayed buried inside her, Thor pushed Loki until she was on her back and he could pound into her as hard as he wanted.

He wouldn't last long, he knew that. He didn't even try to hold back. He drove into her mercilessly, making her scream, and just before he had fucked her right off the side of the bed, his peak blindsided him. With one last great push Thor stilled as he came, cock pulsing and spilling as deep inside Loki as he could possibly get.

When his brain regained normal function, Thor chuckled at Loki's head hanging off the edge of the bed.

"Are you alright down there?" he called out, grinning.

"Hmmmm," Loki answered lazily, making no attempt to move. "I am just fine. You may leave me be."

Thor shook his head, and despite her words, he pulled out and gathered her into her arms, laying down the correct way on the bed. Thor laid on his back, Loki at his side, head resting on his shoulder, arm draped over his chest. He kissed the top of her head and held her tight, humming in complete contentment. It was good to be home.

Sleep began to creep along the edge of his consciousness. It seeped into the crevices of his weary, sated body so stealthily that he barely noticed he was drifting off until Loki spoke.

"I am glad you're back," she said quietly. Thor could feel the vibration of her words and it roused him from his near-slumber. He smiled at the sentiment.

"As am I," Thor answered, then paused, his eyes staring up into the darkness. "Why were you scared when I woke you?"

The hand that had been tracing light circles across his chest stilled. "A nightmare, that's all."

"Do they trouble you often?" The idea of her being plagued by nightmares bothered him and he frowned.

"Occasionally. They became more frequent when you left. I...couldn't stay in my room. Not alone. I felt safer here, I slept better." Her hand resumed its gentle motion and it would have been soothing if not for the guilt also sitting heavily on his chest. Thor shifted and rolled to his side, facing Loki, their foreheads touching.

"Loki, I am so sorry. I will not leave you here again." He brushed a stray lock of raven hair from her cheek.

"I cannot expect you to make that promise," Loki said with a small smile. "I survived, as did you."

"This is surviving? You have nightmares that drive you from own bed. The cooks tell me you have not eaten in two days. Did you leave the room at all today?" Thor could feel himself becoming agitated, but he did not like knowing Loki had suffered in his absence.

"I was fine before -" Loki cut herself off and fell silent.

"Before what? Did something happen?" Thor demanded.

"No, Thor, nothing happened." Loki took hold of his face, petting his cheeks and Thor felt himself calming under her touch. "I just got caught up in my reading. It was a better distraction than I'd realized. I didn't notice my hunger."

Thor grunted his disapproval. She dismissed her plight too easily, in his opinion. A habit, he knew, brought on by a lifetime of feeling unimportant. It was his job now, to break her of that habit. To prove to her that she was important.

"I do not like the idea of leaving you here alone. If I need to go somewhere again, you shall accompany me." He said matter-of-factly. An easy remedy, he thought, one that would please him as well.

"You will grow weary of me." Loki smirked, and Thor knew she was jesting. He doubted that he could ever grow weary of this beguiling creature. Even now, sated as he was, he wanted her again.

"That," Thor pecked her lips, "is impossible.

"I will grow weary of you."

"Also impossible!"

"Quite possible," she insisted.

"Then you will suffer terribly, I suppose." Thor grinned as he allowed the pads of his fingers to travel from Loki's shoulder down toward her hip, making her squirm. "Do you suffer now?"

"Hmmm, yes, terribly." Loki's eyes closed and she smiled, but she played along.

Thor reached around to gently knead the flesh of her ass, moving her hips forward to brush against his reigniting passion. His lips found her collarbone and sucked the blood to the surface there, enjoying the resulting quickening of her breath.

"And now? Are you weary of me now, Loki"

"Oh yes," she lied.

"That really is too bad," Thor murmured as he rolled Loki onto her back and latched onto her breast, rolling her nipple between his teeth and tongue, reveling in the sounds it drew from her lips. His hand reached down between her legs, and he groaned knowing it was his seed that made her so slick. The most intimate mark he could make, and now he wanted to make it again.

Breathing heavy with renewed lust, Thor's tongue danced across Loki's lips, which she readily opened for him. Her legs fell apart, and Thor took advantage of the unspoken permission. Entering her and curling his fingers, Thor greedily swallowed her moans. They did belong to him, after all.

Breaking the kiss, panting against her lips, Thor growled, "Again."

"Yes!" Loki cried, and she cried it again when Thor mounted her and thrust in sharply. Thor matched it with his own rumbly cry. Every nerve ending still hummed from his last climax, and though this time did not feel as urgent as the last, it was every bit as intense. Loki clung to him as he rolled his hips into her. Moving slowly, he savored just how hot she was inside, the only place on her body that got truly hot. And still so tight. Though Thor had stretched her plenty not too long ago, she still clamped down on him so hard it took his breath away.

Deciding that her soft groans weren't loud enough, Thor reached behind Loki's knees and pulled her legs up toward her chest. The angle had him hitting that spot he'd grazed earlier with his fingers, and he drove into her relentlessly.

"Oh. Oh! OH!" Loki's moans now filled the room and Thor's ears and he grinned smugly to see her so consumed by pleasure. She was always stunning, but like this, with her mouth slack and her brow furrowed, a sheen of sweat on her forehead, she was truly exquisite. She looked like this for him, and for him alone. He spotted the marks he'd left on her neck and shoulder. They stood out against her pale skin, undeniable proof that she was his.

Spurred on by his thoughts, Thor's thrusts turned aggressive, dominating, and soon that familiar urgent heat began to build inside him and he knew he was close. So when Loki cried out his name and her whole body clenched, Thor was drawn over the edge with her and they fell together into blissful oblivion.

Utterly spent, Thor collapsed and nuzzled his face against Loki's neck, purring as she ran her fingers along his scalp. He was already so close to sleep, exhaustion and satiation carrying him away at a breakneck speed. And as much as he wanted to lay there all night, buried deep inside Loki, he knew he was close to crushing her already. With a sleepy sigh, he rolled over and gathered her into his arms, making sure she was comfortable before fully relaxing. More content than he'd been in a week, Thor allowed himself to drift off.

"I love you, Loki" Thor murmured. "I'll never leave you." He was too close to sleep to appreciate the gravity of his words, and he fully succumbed before Loki could even reply.

Some fun times for our little lovebirds before the storm hits. Will Loki tell Thor about Fandral's advances? Will Thor tell Loki what happened with Sif? Or is the storm going to come from a direction neither of them expects and blindside everyone? Anyone care to guess?

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