A/N: Thank you for the lovely response to this story! This chapter is a bit smutty. Next time, we'll hear from Loki's point of view.

Seds

Tony scowled at Loki. "I thought I told you to go."

"Oh, you did. But you failed to stipulate where it was, exactly, that you wished me to go to. You should have been more specific." The god flashed Tony a wicked grin.

"Yeah, well, this wasn't what I had in mind. At all."

"Mm. Well, that may be, but if you think your poor planning is going to infringe upon my having a good time, you're mistaken. Now, stop hovering there like a constipated owl and join me." Loki patted the bed enticingly.

Tony sneered defiantly. "No. Uh-uh, not gonna happen, not now, not ever. I'm serious—leave."

"Oh, please. What's a little sex between friends?" The god stared at Tony, clearly keeping the amusement off his face only with considerable effort. He then lazily raised one arm and draped it over his head, making Tony wonder when the hell he'd started getting turned on by armpit hair.

"We're not friends," Tony said sharply.

"Enemies, then."

"We're not that, either." Tony suddenly felt tired. This whole evening had been one confusing roller coaster ride of unasked-for emotions, none of which had been at all helpful. He sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to sort through it all.

"Well, we're something," Loki mused. "And, I think we should take advantage of it. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed pleasures of the flesh, and I suspect it's the same for you. Or, am I wrong?" He reached out and trailed a finger downward between Tony's shoulder blades, making him shudder with unwanted pleasure. That brought a chuckle from the god. "Ah, see? You quiver at the faintest touch. Have you no mate? That blonde woman—do you not bed her?"

"Pepper works for me, and leave her the hell out of this."

"Works for you? A servant, then."

Tony came out of his reverie to flash a shocked look at Loki. "Servant! Holy shit, dude, don't ever let her hear you say that. Your ass'll be knocked back to Asgard so fast your head'll spin. No, she's not a servant—she's an employee, and she's also my partner in a lot of stuff, she helps me... But, no, we're not, you know... seeing each other."

Loki was listening interestedly. "So, for nights on end, you've slipped into a cold bed with only your strong fingers to satisfy your needs. Tsk. I should think you'd be grateful for the opportunity I'm now affording you."

Tony swiveled on the bed and fixed Loki with a dour look. "Listen—just because it's been a while since I got laid doesn't mean I'm going to jump your bones tonight, Reindeer Games. Now, as I was saying—get out." But the words came out lacking the sting Tony intended.

Loki shrugged. "Very well, if you say so. Shame, though. I've been told I'm rather adept at this sort of thing. My one claim to athletic superiority." He gave Tony a wink and made to scoot to the opposite side of Tony's extra-wide bed, when Tony reached for him and clamped a hand on his arm. But, whatever he'd intended to say was forgotten when he touched the god's bare flesh. Tony's eyes widened in surprise.

"You're cold."

"Yes. Do you like it?"

"Huh?"

"My temperature runs several degrees below that of mortals—quite a boon to the necrophiliacs among you, or so I've been told. Are you one of those? If not, I can heat my skin as well, although it's rather like holding your breath. I can't do it for long without ill effect." To Tony's amazement, the flesh beneath his fingers warmed to a normal temperature. He looked into Loki's eyes and saw deep concentration there.

"Okay, that's just weird. Stop it."

"Oh, thank God," Loki said in relief. "That really is a pain in the arse to maintain for more than a few seconds. Don't worry, you'll get used to the cold. Besides, it doesn't extend to the places that... really count." A rakish raise of an eyebrow underlined his meaning. "Come on, Stark, let's do this."

"No! I'm as open-minded as the next guy, but I'm not doin' it with an extraterrestrial, and that's all there is to it."

"Don't be ridiculous. I thought you were the adventurous one."

Loki's expression was so mischievous, his pose so tantalizing, and the chilled touch of his skin so intriguing that Tony couldn't help but break into a grin as he shook his head helplessly. "You know, this is a really bad idea, for a lot of reasons."

"Such as?"

"Well, for one, aren't you afraid we'll make a little alien demi-god baby?"

Loki sidled close and nuzzled his face into Tony's neck. When he spoke, his voice was a feral growl. "You're saying Midgardian men can bear children? That's remarkable. For, nothing would please me better than to fill you with my seed and plant my whelp in your belly—"

Tony grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and gave him a warning glare. "Whoa—if anybody's planting anything anywhere it'll be me, not you, and you can take that to the bank, get it?" He shoved Loki onto his back, crawled on top of him and crushed their mouths together, earning him a deep, delighted chuckle from Loki.

"So, you've decided to cooperate—very good. I didn't take you for a fool, in spite of your regrettable humanity."

Tony pulled back. Until that second, it hadn't occurred to Tony that he might not have a choice in how this went. "That a threat?"

Loki's lascivious expression faded and he looked puzzled. "No... I just meant... I didn't think you'd decline an opportunity to enjoy yourself with one so willing." Loki's brows knit together. "What did you think I meant?"

"I... Nothing, never mind." Tony dipped his head down to resume the kiss, but Loki put a firm hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

Neither spoke for a moment, their eyes locked together. Then Loki said softly, "You really don't trust me, do you?"

Tony suddenly felt sheepish, but he answered honestly. "I guess not."

A dark look crossed Loki's face. Tony felt him shift, attempting to wriggle out from under him. "I'm a lot of things, Stark, but I'm not a rapist. You were right, this is a very bad idea. Get off me, I'll leave you in peace."

"Wait!" Tony held him more firmly and ran a hand along the side of Loki's face. "Don't go. I'm sorry. But, you can't blame me for being a little skittish, can you?"

Loki had a resentful set to his jaw, but it softened and he shook his head slightly. "No, I suppose not."

"You have to give me some time."

"Of course. I understand that." He gave Tony a searching look. "I really do—I have much to atone for, and you've no reason to trust me as yet. It's all right."

Tony lay on his side and pulled Loki to him. They just lay there for a while, the silence seeming to heal them better than a torrent of useless words. Finally, Tony asked, "Are we okay?"

Loki roused himself, taking Tony into another deep kiss. He held Tony's forehead to his own and said quietly, "Yes, Stark. We're okay."

Everything felt lighter after that. After all, the god's lanky body felt wonderful in Tony's arms, and the chill of his skin mixed with Tony's warmth created an intoxicating electricity between them, leaving Tony eager to move forward.

"Good. Now, look, I think we ought to establish some ground rules before we—Hey!"

To Tony's surprise, he found himself flipped over onto his back, and now Loki was on top of him, lying between his legs, a thick erection pressed into Tony's denim-covered crotch. Tony yelped, and he pushed back, saying, "Oh, no you don't. I told you, I'm a pitcher, not a catcher!" Loki playfully bit his neck, struggling to remain on top, but Tony gave a war cry and managed to work his way out of the powerful embrace. The two wrestled back and forth until the bedclothes were wrecked and they were both laughing and out of breath. Loki finally eased himself onto his back beside Tony.

"All right, mortal. It really makes no difference to me who takes the dominant position." He let his knees fall apart in a delicious gesture of good-natured submission. "Enter me."

"Jesus-effing-Christ. Let me get some supplies." Tony quickly skinned out of his clothes and then began scrabbling around in his nightstand drawer.

"Supplies? What sort of supplies?" Loki asked suspiciously.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Staples, note pads, pens, paper clips and such." Tony looked back at Loki, expecting to see at least some appreciation for his wit, but Loki was frowning.

"I beg your pardon? Thor never mentioned needing such objects in order to copulate with a human."

"No, no, I was kidding! Condoms, dude. Lube? Those kinds of supplies."

"Condoms?"

Tony pulled a package out of his drawer and held it up for Loki's inspection. The god examined it and comprehension dawned. "Oh! I see." He shot another bewildered look in Tony's direction. "But these are merely to prevent pregnancy. Surely you're not so dull-witted as to not have noticed that I'm male. You needn't worry—unlike your kind, Asgardian men are not capable of bearing offspring."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Oh, for God's sake, neither are Earth guys! It's to prevent disease, dumb ass. Don't they have STDs on Asgard?"

"STDs...?"

"Sexually transmitted diseases. My God, this is the weirdest pre-sex conversation I've ever had in my life—and I've had some doozies..." Tony muttered to himself.

"We don't, actually," Loki noted. "And, we're not susceptible to human ailments. You may use the condom device if you wish, but it's certainly not necessary. And, I would think it would only detract from your enjoyment, would it not?"

"I'll say. But... Yeah, okay, we'll go bareback, what the hell." He looked at the other item in his hand and asked, "You do use lube, though, right?"

Loki shrugged. "It may serve to... expedite matters, I suppose."

"I would think so." Tony went back to kissing his alien about-to-be lover and slipped a lube-slicked finger between his thighs, seeking Loki's entrance. He gently spread the gel over the area and then slid his finger inside.

"What are you doing?" Loki asked crossly.

"Preparing you—I don't want to hurt you."

"I'm not some mewling virgin, Stark. You needn't waste your time on such useless pursuits."

Tony pulled away and looked at the supremely irritated expression on Loki's face.

"Jeeze, man, don't they have foreplay where you come from?"

"They do. It's called battling to the death." At the sight of Tony's stunned countenance, Loki's near-murderous scowl disappeared and he broke into laughter. "I'm joking! Yes, of course we have foreplay. But, I'm impatient." He buried his face in Tony's neck, inhaling deeply of his scent as he again pressed his teeth into Tony's soft flesh. "I want to take your manhood inside me. Now." He lay back, his black hair fanning out onto the white linen of Tony's pillow. "We can foreplay all you like... next time." He smiled encouragingly and wrapped his legs around Tony's waist, fitting himself against him.

Tony chuckled and obeyed his beautiful alien god with a good deep thrust.

It wasn't gentle.

Loki was all spit and teeth and sharp nails digging into Tony's back, scraping down his ribs, leaving hot scratches. Tony tried to keep things a little bit on the civilized side, but goaded by a constant patter of insults—"By the gods, Stark, is your pelvis broken? Is your puny cock destined to go no further than the mere shoreline of my entrance? Surely your balls contain something other than lukewarm dishwater—put some effort into it, man!"—Tony threw aside any semblance of concern for his lover's well-being and fucked him into the goddamn mattress. Loki's response was to plow his heels into the small of Tony's back as he thrust his hips upward in counterpoint to Tony's rapid-fire assault on his nether regions, keening as he gained purchase.

Loki finally shut up when Tony grabbed his cock and began brutally pumping him, sliding the cool skin up and down over what felt to Tony like a steel rod. Surprisingly quickly, the god made a little gasping sound and choked out, "Yes! There we are... Valhalla at last..." and he spilled a generous coating of hot spunk all over Tony's hand.

"Good for you, space man," Tony muttered. "Now it's my turn." Tony didn't let up his pace—the skin on Loki's chest and thighs was cool even after all that friction, but Loki hadn't been kidding about certain other internal parts of him running hot. Inside, Loki was snug and slick and heated and he warmed Tony like his channel was lined with tiger balm, but it wasn't unpleasant at all—just different.

Mind-blowingly different.

Tony shot deep inside Loki and then collapsed on top of him, panting and gasping to fill his depleted lungs. Loki gave him a shove and he fell beside him, lying limp on his back in a sated, boneless mess.

"That... was freakin' awesome," Tony eventually rasped.

"It wasn't bad," Loki grudgingly agreed. "Better than I expected, really."

"Oh, please. I bet your ass'll be sore for days."

Loki snickered. "I'll have you know, I have amazing powers of resilience. But yes, I imagine I'll be thinking of you every time I sit down for at least a few of your mortal hours." He cast a sideways glance at Tony and saw that Tony was looking at him with an appreciative leer. When their eyes met, they both broke into laughter.

Tony reached for Loki's hand and then rolled onto his side and kissed him; Loki's lips were icy, but the inside of his already well-explored mouth was hot and steamy, and Tony languidly wondered what that insane combination would feel like wrapped around his cock, assuming alien gods were ever inclined to give mortals blow jobs.

Well, Loki had hinted at the possibility of a next time, so Tony was content to wait to find out.

But, after Loki's breathing had returned to normal, he rolled off the bed and stood up with that pre-disappearance aura in the air around him.

Tony stared in consternation. "Where the hell are you going?"

"I believe our business has reached a satisfactory conclusion."

"Our business?"

Loki grinned. "I had to determine if your moniker, 'Man of Iron,' is appropriate. And, so it is..."

"Ha-ha. So, you were just using me all along?"

"Oh, don't be such a pathetic child. My time in this realm is long, can you blame me for taking advantage of a distraction when it presents itself? Anyway, it's not as if you didn't have a bit of fun, yourself."

"I guess." Tony took advantage of Loki's little speech to admire his bare body; his attention was firmly on the god when he produced the clothes he'd been wearing earlier and began to dress. He pulled on a pair of silk briefs that clung to his bony hips and outlined his thick cock and heavy balls as if they'd been painted with high-gloss latex. He put his arms into the black t-shirt and let it slide slowly over his head, gradually coming down to cover the smattering of fine black hairs trailing between his pecs, over the pert nipples that Tony hadn't had the opportunity to lick and nibble the way he'd wanted. The shirt rolled down over his taut belly, and came to rest just above the line of his underwear, leaving a tantalizing bit of bare flesh exposed and vulnerable, making Tony want to pull him to him and bite it.

Loki lifted his trousers and pulled them up slowly over his long legs, and Tony watched entranced as the knobby knees and finely-muscled thighs he'd so recently found himself thrusting between disappeared. He was getting hard all over again, when it occurred to him that the goddamn alien god was doing a reverse strip tease for him and was about to leave him in a thoroughly frustrated state of blue-balls like he hadn't experienced since his teen years.

"So, you're just going to run off."

"I thought I would, yes. Wouldn't want to weary you with my presence." He'd fastened his trousers and belt, and was now running his hands through his bed-ravaged hair, attempting to tame it.

Tony gave him a scornful sneer. "Got some outer-space nymphet waiting for you at home, do you?"

Loki laughed. "Hardly. I'm quite alone, these days."

"Speaking of home, where do you hang your hat in your off time? When you're not zipping through the ether or annoying the hell out of the occasional billionaire, I mean."

"Nowhere. Everywhere. My 'home' is in Asgard, but I'm not allowed there anymore." He sounded matter-of-fact, but Tony thought he caught a tinge of wistfulness in his tone.

"Right, Thor mentioned that. By the way, you're not going to, uh, clue him in about this, are you? About me rocking your world to a mortal beat?"

Loki regarded him for a moment. "Why? Ashamed of giving in to your baser instincts with another male? I gather that's no more acceptable here than in Asgard, if not less so."

"No, I'm not ashamed of anything. I just..." Tony looked down at his hands, considering his next words carefully. "Thor might spill the beans to the wrong person. I have a feeling S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't like knowing that you're on the loose inside Earth's atmosphere again. They might... take action. Which could, you know, be inconvenient for you and me, both."

Loki stood with his hands on his hips, his head cocked to the side. "I don't fear them. Of course..."

"What?"

"Odin made it very clear to me that I'm to avoid engaging in any sort of conflict with other beings. I suppose you have valid concerns. But, I'm not telling Thor a bloody thing about this for the simple reason that with whom I choose to share a bed is none of his damned business."

Tony gave a knowing smirk. "Ah, the love between two brothers, is there anything more beautiful."

"Fuck you, Stark, and thank you for a lovely evening. Perhaps we'll do it again some time."

"Sure. We'll get Thai food. You know what that is?"

Loki smirked, and said in a mocking tone, "Why, no. I'm sure you'll be happy to teach me, though." He perched on the edge of the bed. "Just as you so kindly 'introduced' me to the joys of pepperoni pizza and Midgardian billiards... So very sweet of you, Man of Iron, taking me in hand like that."

Tony frowned. "Wait a minute... What are you saying?"

Loki laughed aloud. "Stark... Did you honestly think I've never had pizza before? And, as for playing pool, I could beat you on your best day with one arm broken and the other tied behind my back... without magic." He gave Tony a pitying smile and leaned forward to kiss him on the forehead. "Perhaps next time you can guide me in the intricacies of checkers, or catch, or tic-tac-toe. Whatever you choose, I'll be looking forward to it." With that, he de-materialized, his laughter hanging in the air like the Cheshire cat's grin.

Tony threw a pillow across the room. "I hate him..." he muttered. "He's a good lay, but I hate him." He clicked on the TV, feeling a combination of relief, aggravation, and self-disgust.

Oh, and loneliness. He forgot loneliness.

He was on that damned emotional roller coaster ride again, and Loki was the fucking ticket-taker.