So, um… I kind of lied. If you're skipping the naughty bits, you'll need to skip the first section of this chapter, too. Continuing with the theme of chapters named for songs, the theme song for this one is "Give a Little More" by Maroon 5.


Chapter 37: Give A Little More

Natasha smiled against Loki's lips as she kissed him. She had let him have his fun, now it was her turn. She flipped him onto his back, and began to move her hips in a subtle pattern. She sat up, straddling him, and ran her hands through her hair. She then brought them down her neck, over her shoulders and lower, squeezing her breasts and pressing them together with a quiet moan.

Loki licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry. In all his fantasies, he had never imagined her like this: willing and wanton and gleefully in control. She was still slick from before, and it made her slide against him deliciously. When she touched herself, he groaned, shifting his hips beneath her as he came to life once more.

She paused, looking down and blinking. A small smile appeared on her face, and she looked to him with raised eyebrows.

He gave her a mock-frown. "Come now, your surprise is almost insulting," he teased, and took hold of her hips, trying to move her in the same bewitching rhythm she had been using.
She laughed a little, moving as he wished. "Oh, I knew you could, I just thought I'd have to work a little harder for it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Well don't let that stop you, I should hate to see your talent go to waste."

Natasha nodded her head to the side and resumed in earnest. She put her hands over his, sliding them up to cup her breasts, showing him the way she liked to be touched. All the while her hips moved, dancing to a rhythm all their own, teasing until he clenched his teeth with the effort of not wresting control from her.

Sensing that Loki was at the end of his patience, Natasha made one last expert swivel of her hips which took him inside her. A moan of relief escaped him, and she smiled slyly. She would bet more money than she made in a year that he had never had it this way. She moved her hips against him one last time, and then picked up a rapid tempo, thinking he would like it fast and hard.

She was surprised, then, when she found Loki's hand around her throat, effectively holding her against him. She looked to see his expression, but his eyes were tightly shut.

"Go back," he said in a strained voice. "Do it like before,"

"Like this?" she ground her hips against his, much like before, although the effect with him hard inside her was entirely different.

He nodded and relaxed the hold on her neck.

She shrugged mentally and did as he asked. It was a technique she was more likely to use on over-eager boys to prolong the experience, not on a man of Loki's experience and certainly not on a second round, where she risked losing interest. But she liked it. The sensation of him moving deep inside her and the way her most sensitive spot brushed against his dark curls was enough to have her close to the edge very quickly.

Loki opened his eyes to see that Natasha had closed hers, lost in the pleasure she was taking from him. It was a heady sight. He sat up, propping one hand behind him while the other slid up her back, pressing her to him.

The change in angle made a world of difference to Natasha. She clutched his shoulders tightly, biting her lip as her body clenched around him.

Loki decided he liked the look of that and kissed her, drawing her lower lip into his mouth and biting it as well. She moaned happily and relaxed as the last wave of passion passed through her. She opened her eyes and looked into his, only inches away.

"Good?" he asked softly.

She nodded, and her smile was passion-drunk.

"Excellent," he said abruptly, and pressing a hand to the small of her back, he flipped her over.

She laughed, surprised and impressed by the difficult move, but her laughter quickly dissolved into a gasp as Loki took up a rough, furious pace, driving into her mercilessly. The contrast left her reeling, a moment ago they had been making love. Now...

"Oh, fuck..." Natasha gasped between moans, digging her fingernails into his back.

"Yes," Loki hissed between clenched teeth.

She closed her eyes and wrapped her legs around his waist, relaxing so she could ride the force of his passion. He wasn't hurting her, not quite, but the near-brutality of it was overwhelming. Loki's breath was quick and hot against her neck, and she opened her eyes just long enough to glimpse his hand clenched next to her so tightly that the knuckles were white.

While her mind fought not to panic, her body was taking its own course, leading her inexorably towards another climax. She cried out wordlessly as it overtook her, and Loki made a frantic, strangled sound as her body clenching tight around him pushed him over the edge as well.

He hovered over her a few moments, pressing his forehead against hers, before turning so they both lay on their sides, arms and legs entwined.

"I suppose I should apologize for that," he said as soon as he caught his breath.

"Are you sorry for it?" Natasha asked.

He laughed breathlessly. "No," he admitted.

"Then please don't lie because I'm not sorry either and this would be very difficult to explain," she quipped.

He chuckled again, and pulled her against him tightly, tucking her head under his chin. Silently, he thanked whatever powers had rendered her momentarily crazy enough to let him in. He was sure it would take every ounce of his cunning to keep her from bolting, but what was life without a good challenge?


Natasha lay there for a while, her body wrapped around his. It had been a very long time since she had felt like this, and she tried to put her finger on what it was she felt. Satisfied, and a little tired, the good kind from too much physical exertion. A bit sore, too, but also in a good way. There was a sense of resolution as all the tension that had been building between her and Loki had finally come to a head. What was done was done, and there was no going back now.

But it was more than that, a feeling of stillness within her, as if she existed simply in the moment, warm and sated and... hungry. Her stomach growled, breaking the magic of the moment.

Loki chuckled a little, and pulled back. "Did I make you miss your dinner?" he teased.

She smiled. "Yeah, but it's no big deal. I skip meals all the time."

He frowned disapprovingly, and moved away, sitting up. "Nonsense. Hunger is one of the least pleasant aspects of being human, in my opinion." He found his pants on the floor.

She sat up, scowling. "Well you don't have to go-"

"I'm not leaving," he assured her as he put them on. "But I don't think cooking naked is a terribly intelligent idea."

"Cooking?" she frowned, but he merely grinned and left the bedroom. She scrambled to find some clothes, a t-shirt and jersey shorts that she often wore as pajamas were the first things she could find. As soon as she had them on, she hurried out to the main room.

Loki was staring into her refrigerator, scowling. After a moment he took out the eggs and a couple other ingredients.

"Do you even know how to cook?" Natasha asked skeptically.

He sent her a wounded look. "Of course I do. She cooks, so I cook."

"Right," she sat at the table and sighed. This was clearly going to be the most complicated relationship she had ever entered... assuming of course that a relationship would follow. For all she knew, Loki wouldn't even notice her the next day. But cooking was generally a good sign in her experience. And she had plenty of that.

There was a comfortable silence as Loki worked, giving Natasha ample time to examine the absurdity of her situation. Before her stood the god of mischief and lies, with whom she had just had not one but two exceedingly thrilling rides, and who was now cooking her something that smelled fantastic. And she was pondering the possibility of entering into a relationship with him, the same person who had tried to kill her and all her friends—had succeeded in one case—two very short months ago. Was she insane?

"Plates?" Loki asked, interrupting her train of thought.

"Right-hand cupboard," she answered, unable to shake the surreal feeling of such a mundane exchange.

He found the plates, loaded them up, and carried them over to the table. He set one in front of Natasha and one across from her, then opened a couple drawers before finding the silverware. At last, he sat in the seat across from her. "Well?"

Natasha stared down at the food. It smelled good, and it looked good, but she had always been a little wary of eating unknown things. "What is it?"

He smiled. "Well, I wanted to make eggs Benedict, but there was no ham, or English muffins, and the hollandaise sauce would have taken too long anyway. So it's fried eggs on toast with cheese."

She shrugged and took a bite. "It's good."

They ate in silence for a few moments, Loki watching her warily. "Are you sure you like it?" he asked, making her pause. "Only you keep scowling at it."

She sighed, and poked a bit of egg with her fork. "What are we doing, Loki?"

"Eating?" he joked.

She rolled her eyes. "I mean, how did it come to this?" she gestured to the bedroom door.

A sly grin spread across his face. "I knew from the first moment I saw you that it would come to this," he purred.

She laughed. "You are an arrogant ass, aren't you?"

He sat back, raising his eyebrows. "Is it arrogance if I'm right?" he asked before popping a piece of the toast in his mouth.

Natasha sighed. "The question remains, what are we doing?"

"Having fun?" he shrugged. "At least, I was having fun. I assume—from the screaming and moaning—that you were having fun, too?"

She fought against a smile, and failed. "Yes," she admitted. "But—" she's toyed with her fork a little. "Are we going to continue... having fun?"

Loki set down his fork. "I believe Midgardian custom dictates that is largely up to you," he said seriously. "If it were up to me, I'd lock us in a room for a week and have my way with you every which way I could imagine. But I'm told that's frowned upon when the lady in question disapproves."

She stared at him, amazed as always that he could be so glib about something like that, and equally amazed that it was, in fact, funny. "What I want isn't the only factor involved," she warned.

"Really? If you want it and I want it, then what other objections could there be?" he joked.

She gave him a sarcastic look. "What about SHIELD?"

"Frankly, I don't think they have any right to know. I'm for pleasure, not business," he reasoned.

"What makes you think you're not a job?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Because," he waved a forkful of food, "otherwise this would have happened quite a while ago. You wouldn't have put up such a fight."

Natasha scowled at the way he put it. "Alright, but what about the team? They're our friends—well, my friends anyway—and they're not going to like it."

Loki shrugged. "Who says they have to know? If anyone has the ability to keep a secret, I should think it would be us."

She sighed as she finished the last of her meal. The last thing she needed in her life was more deception. When Loki had finished his food as well, she grabbed his plate and took the dishes to the sink.

"I can do that," Loki offered as she turned on the sink.

"No, you cooked, I'll clean," she argued. It made her feel slightly useless to have him do everything. She laughed a little. "I guess, even if we did tell them, what would we say?"

He turned his chair around so he could watch her work. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what are we, really?" she asked, catching his eye in the mirror above the sink.

"Do we really need to put a label on it?" he whined.

"Yes. Labels are the best defense against chaos," she said firmly.

"Well we're not lovers," he crossed his arms.

"Love is for children?" she quoted herself.

"Love is a lie," he agreed.

She nodded. "We're not exactly courting, either."

"Gods, no," he scoffed. "I don't ever want to marry again, nothing personal," he added apologetically.

"No, I quite agree. Not really the marrying type myself. Does that make me a conquest, in Asgardian terms?" she gave him a challenging look.

He shook his head, smiling. "The idea of anyone conquering you is laughable. No, if we were in Asgard I suppose I would say you were my mistress. I like that word, mistress. What do you think?"

She frowned a little. "I'm not sure I like the idea of being your anything." she found a towel and started drying the dishes. When she looked up to catch his expression in the mirror, she was surprised to find him quiet and a little sad.

"Not even my friend?" he asked.

She turned around, leaning against the counter. "We could be friends," she said softly.

Loki smiled as a thought occurred to him, a term from one of his counterpart's insipid books. "With benefits?"

"Sure," she laughed. "That will do for now." She turned around and started putting away the clean dishes.

When she reached to place the plates in the cupboard, the hem of her shirt lifted to reveal a slice of bare skin. Loki reached out to touch it, when he noticed a purplish stain on one end. He lifted the hem of her shirt to reveal a nasty bruise blooming on her hip, where he had held her so roughly.

"Hey," Natasha said softly, noticing his very concerned look as he gently traced his fingertips around the ugly shape. "It's no big deal, I get worse than that from sparring." She brushed her fingers across his cheek.

"This is different," he scowled, catching her wrist and examining the faint beginnings of bruises there as well. He pulled gently, and she sat on his lap facing him. He moved her hair out of the way to find another collection around her neck. He cursed softly.

"It's okay, Loki. They'll be gone tomorrow, maybe the day after. A little rough play won't do me permanent damage," she reassured him.

He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "Natasha, that was restraint. What happens if I get carried away? It could be a lot worse than bruises." Loki ran a hand along her arm, over her shoulder, and then up her neck. He tightened his fingers over the bruises there, his thumb stroking along her pulse point. "I could kill you with less than a thought," he whispered.

Natasha was suddenly, inexplicably turned on. She swallowed against his hand and smiled grimly. "I know at least a hundred ways to kill a man in bed," she explained. "I don't know how many of them would work on you, but I'm pretty sure they'd get your attention."

He laughed and pulled her close, nuzzling her cleavage.

"Anyway, Thor made it sound like you'd had human women before," she said, curious.

He sighed. "This may be the first time I've stuck around long enough to see the... aftermath," he admitted.

Natasha ran her fingers through his hair. "I promise if you get too rough, I'll kick your ass, okay?"

He chuckled darkly. "Are you sure you want to do this? You might end up with more than your bones broken. I was once called Loki the Heartless by the women of Asgard, remember?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "You're assuming a lot about me there."

He shrugged. "Goddesses have broken their hearts against the sharp rocks of my personality," he argued.

She sighed heavily. "It won't happen, Loki. I'm the Black Widow. I can't lose my heart to you if I don't gamble it in the first place."

Loki closed his eyes and nodded.

They stayed that way for a few moments. "You're right, though," she whispered.

He lifted his head to look her in the eye.

"We should keep it secret."

Loki nodded, and stood, setting her down carefully. "I should go, then, before Thor notices I'm gone."

"You should probably switch back in the morning, it's Her turn and you don't want to get off schedule," she reminded him.

He grimaced. "I suppose so. I shall see you next week then," he said, and picking up her hand he kissed it once more. "Try to get some sleep."

She smiled a little. "If I'd known you would be this nice, I would have slept with you a long time ago."

He laughed darkly. "I wouldn't have been this nice a long time ago," he admitted, and then he left.


A/N: Sick today, so early post, yay! The nice thing is that I'm getting a TON of writing done. If only that translated into money, lol.

For all those worried about everything being all hunky-dory now that Natasha and Loki are together, let me just say I HATE stories like that. The stuff is definitely about to hit the fan. Next Saturday, Chapter 38: "The Calm Before."

I got a number of really fabulous reviews for the last chapter, and they all made me feel warm and fuzzy inside, and got me back to working on this story. I try to keep a month's worth of chapters in my buffer, but that was getting pretty slim! Hopefully I can keep up this twice-a-week update schedule for the rest of the story.