~Prologue~

How does one describe life after death?

Not physical death, though at times Loki had thought the unknown blackness of the universe was indeed Helheim, but death that masked itself as captivity.  Isolated from the nine realms in complete and utter darkness, he had been broken, beaten, bested, and somehow offered the chance to be born again by his great unnamed torturer.

He'd been a starving man offered a feast.  A homeless man offered a castle. It had been too good to be true for certainly his torturer had the most destructive intentions possible, but Loki had jumped.

Head first.  All in.

Freed suddenly from his desert cage in deep space by the expansive wings of a blue cube, he'd flown across the universe and had crash landed on a little world (Earth, to be exact) unsure of what lay ahead.  Indeed, the relief he'd felt upon seeing the humans after having spent three months with nothing but hideous bestia and Chitauri was to be expected.  Though, dear gods, "relief" didn't BEGIN to cover what had gone through his mind.

The great cocktail of emotions swirling in the pit of Loki's stomach had bemused him—Why hadn't he been overwhelmed with JOY?  Why after escaping further torture, fear, anxiety, and sadness accompanied that relief?

Well, quite simply, because it wasn't that easy.  Sadly, he couldn't have simply flipped the switch in his brain.  Death, agonizing as it had been, once he'd done it for a bit, had become NORMAL.  Thrust back into the world of the living, feeling anything other than misery would have seemed just...WRONG.

Every day on that desert island rock he'd ordered his drink: "I'll have the lonely, sorrowful, pained, wearied, weighed down with melancholy usual, please and thank you." Angry with everyone in one moment, he'd then cry and speak unintelligible words in the next.  Misery had become his comrade.  Much like someone with chronic pain, he'd become used to it, doubtful of the possibility of any real lasting relief.

He had completely forgotten how to feel positive emotions.  Perhaps he was afraid to allow himself to, lest he get his hopes up only to have them squashed again.  Wouldn't it be better to remain numb?  To keep his guard up?  To not allow any hint of "I'm the happiest most grateful man in the universe" sentiment to creep into his psyche?

Yes, that had indeed been his intention.  Stay strong.  Stay focused.  Stay numb.  Hel, stay MISERABLE, if he must.  Guard what little was left of his shattered heart.  Do not let the pieces crumble even further.  Better yet, do not use the heart at ALL.  Do not allow it to speak.  No, he would use only his HEAD because it alone would keep him safe.

However, then Loki had heard HER—

Sigyn's throaty strained cry of "NO!" had broken through the stoic resolve which his mind had clung to upon first standing in Tony Stark's basement laboratory.

Misery?

GONE.

He'd tossed it aside to make room for pure unadulterated euphoria.  Shattered heart whole once more in the span of two seconds. Reunited with the love (please don't break me again!) of his life, he'd probably cracked her ribs in his crushing embrace.  What good thing had he done to deserve THAT? 

Loki had known the answer to that question instantly.  It was not a task that he had accomplished before his fall from the bridge, but a new mission, a new purpose, that had earned him this new life.  Dying had made him stronger.  It had made HER stronger.

This great task, this glorious purpose, would likely cause them both a world of suffering, but with Sigyn's help, he absolutely HAD to take back the throne of Asgard.  In doing so, they just might save the Realm Eternal from destruction...and Earth with it.

FEARLESS IMMORTALS

~58^th Floor, Stark Tower 2, Los Angeles, CA, USA~

Day 1 on Earth.

Trying not to think about how much he would miss his Catalina compound, Tony led his oddly human-looking alien guests through the bullet resistant plexiglass helipad access doors to his Stark Tower Two penthouse.  He scowled, deep wrinkles creasing his forehead.  God, he hadn’t even been able to take his Belassi B3R Sport jet ski out on the water yet.

Shake it off, man, just shake it off.

“Alright folks,” he said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together.  He turned around to face Loki and Sigyn, an entirely fake smile plastered to his face, “Welcome to Stark Tower Two.  Fifty eight floors…” he trailed off, mouth turning down at the sound of Bach’s suite no. 1 in G major coming through the speakers.  Holding up a finger, he raised his voice.

“Jarvis?  My ears are actually bleeding.  Make that noise stop, or I’m going to throw myself out the window without my suit.”

Speaking under her breath, Jane looked down. “By all means, keep the music going then.”

The British accented slightly electronic voice of Jarvis filled the room. “Of course, Mr. Stark.” 

Startled by the voice from seemingly nowhere, Loki looked around quizzically, one eyebrow raised.  His gaze landed on Sigyn, and leaning down, he whispered in her ear.

“Who said that?”

Shrugging, she tightened her grip on his waist and suppressed a yawn. “I know not, and I care not,” she mumbled into the back of her hand. “I do care to know where we might find a bed since I think this tower might have a few to spare.  I am positively spent.”

Classic cello transformed then into an electric guitar riff coupled with a solid drum beat through the sound system then.

“Now that is classical music,” Tony said, bobbing his head in response and singing along. “Here I come again now, baby, like a dog in heat.  Tell it’s me by the clamor now, baby.  I’d like to tear up the street…“

Pepper cringed. “Now everyone’s ears are bleeding, Tony.  Do not quit your day job.”

Tony put his hand over his heart in mock offense. “Are you suggesting that I don’t have a Nugent-esque set of pipes, sweetheart?  I’m crushed,” he deadpanned and turned to Sigyn. “What d’ya think, Alice?  Asgard have anything like this this?”

Sigyn sighed, putting a great deal of effort into not rolling her eyes at being called Alice again (could the man not see that Loki was real and not a little white rabbit, for Hel’s sake?).  No, Asgard did not have anything resembling this.  Asgard was all lofty strings and deep pounding drums, which she loved very much, but she had to admit this music was…. nice.  It sounded like someone was strumming, rather than bowing, an altered stringed instrument.  Immensely altered—The sound was positively hypnotic.

Tony continued bobbing his head. “It’s called Stranglehold.” He smirked at Sigyn, able to see that she was a fan. “Good, right?  They’re called eee-lec-tric,” he drew out the enunciation, “guitars, in case you were wondering-“

“What, pray tell,” Loki cut him off and held up his hand, “is the purpose of this lengthy discourse on your musical tastes, Stark?  Please do kindly get to the point.” He set his jaw, annoyed with his instinct  to sway with the beat of the infuriatingly mesmerizing rhythm.  Something about Stark rubbed him the wrong way, and he didn’t want to agree with the man on anything.  Even something as pettish as the man’s musical tastes.

Glaring, Tony’s lip twitched.  What was with this guy?  He had just saved this dude’s royal ass (all their asses) from a supermassive explosion, and this was what he got in return?  The audacity of this asshole.

“I am getting to the point,” he snapped.

“Well, get there faster,” Loki growled, taking a step forward only to be held back by Sigyn’s steadfast hand on his shoulder.  Returning to his place beside her, he gripped the back of her jacket (his jacket), white knuckling the leather with restrained exasperation.

Conceited fractious human.

His silent words echoed through her mind, and she pulled his neck down,  whispering, “Calm yourself.”

Eyes wide, his jaw dropped at her words, on the verge of defending his frustration with this five year old in a grown man’s body, currently wasting everyone’s time, but breathing heavily, he shut his mouth instead.

“Look, this is my place,” Tony said, increasingly pissed off with Loki each second. “And let’s not forget that it was my helicopter that saved you.  You may be some sort of immortal alien, but you’re still just an Eric Draven knock off to me that quite literally exploded into my lab, destroying years of my own blood, sweat, and tears, so let me do the talking and stop interrupting me.”

Loki and Sigyn eyed each other, having a silent conversation.

Who the Hel is Eric Draven?ーhe pursed his lips.

Shrugging, she shook her head—You’re the one who can read minds.  Figure it out yourself.

“The tower has top notch security,” Tony continued, addressing the entire room then, “in other words, if you’ve seen it in a Bond film, I’ve had it installed.”

“Every move you make-” he returned his eyes to Loki “-if you sneeze, if you drink a beer, if you open a book, if you steal a pen, if you brush your hair, if you take a shower or a piss, if you go anywhere at all or do anything at all, I’ll know it, if it’s a perceived or actual threat.  So don’t bother looking for the tesseract.  It’s locked up, away from you because, I’m sorry but there’s no way I can trust you since I don’t know anything about you.  Are we clear?”

Eyes rolling, Loki nodded once, “Crystal.”

“Good.  I wasn’t expecting company so forgive the mess-” he spun on one foot, doing a 360, inspecting the ridiculously clean floor and shrugged “-or not. I don’t live here.  Well, I hadn’t lived here.  Now I do.  Thanks for that,” he eyed Loki before continuing, “I guess we have a cleaning crew.  Did I hire one?  Um….”

Blowing out an exaggerated breath, tired of Tony’s mindless chatter about literally nothing important, Jane groaned. “Are there enough bedrooms up here for all of us,” she asked, hip cocked, “or should we have brought our sleeping bags?”

Tony tilted his head sideways and smiled at her. “Of course there are enough bedrooms up here, Pipsqueak-“

“Stop calling me that,” Jane snapped, crossing her arms. “I do not squeak.”

He waved a hand, “Yeah, you do, but whatever.  Yes, there are enough bedrooms up here, but you won’t be using any of them.”

“What?  Where are we supposed to-“

“Tony means that he won’t let anyone use this floor,” Pepper cut in, glaring at him, “but there plenty other condos throughout the building.  He might have been attempting to make a joke.  It clearly fell flat.”

Arching an eyebrow, Sigyn looked up at Loki.  He shook his head in response to her silent question—what’s a condo?—and slid the hand at the small of her back around her waist to pull her closer.  They’d arrived in one piece, and Stark had led them to this…. place.  Was it meant for living?  He’dassumed that this skyscraping monstrosity would house floor after floor of commerce space or more research labs.  Apparently, that was not the case.

Similar to Loki, Sigyn eyed their surroundings.  She should have expected Stark Tower Two to look like this, considering the decor in his now blown to smithereens compound.  The furnishings here were just as grotesque and absurd.  She shouldn’t judge though.  She should be grateful.  Gods, but she was just too tired to care about being nice, apparently.

She picked at an imaginary thread on her jacket…. or um…. Loki’s jacket.  If Stark really wasn’t going to provide them with a place to comfortably sleep, she supposed it wasn’t that big of a deal.  Having slept naked and freezing cold in a cave behind the waterfall in Vanaheim, she was more than capable of sleeping on a shiny floor in a comfortably warm high rise, but she wanted something a bit more inviting, something softer, for Hel’s sake.  Preferably something private.

At the heavy sigh next to her, she looked up at Loki and frowned.  Was he completely healed from his injuries?  He’d been strong enough to lift her easily, at least.  Was he healed emotionally, though?  Had he…. died?  What had happened during these last three months?  How was he on Earth?  And why?  More questions than she could separate were charging through the synapses in her brain.  She dropped her gaze to his neck, watching somewhat hypnotized, by his pulse point.  There would be time for answers later.  She turned her body toward him entirely, wrapping him in a full hug.  His arms tightened around her instantly, and he put his nose in her hair, though he continued eyeing Tony from under his brow.  Clearing his throat then, he licked his lips and spoke plainly.

“Where are we to stay then?” He glanced around the living room, as Tony had called it, and gestured to the couches with a forced smile. “It seems large enough to house more than a few guests, if you’d be so kind.”

Eyes narrowed at the incessantly sarcastic and decidedly ungrateful man in front of him, Tony couldn’t hold his tongue. “You do realize that this is all your fault, right?”

Sigyn turned around to face Tony, mouth falling open. “His fault?” she questioned, wincing at the unattractive shrieking sound of her voice. “What the Hel do you mean by that?”

She had a good mind to set his perfectly tousled hair on fire.  Rather than that, thankfully, she just turned back around to snake her arms around Loki’s waist.  Eyes sliding closed, Loki shook his head.  He was beyond exhausted.  Traveling through the cube had taken its toll (an enormous toll), and he could honestly sleep for an entire day, with Sigyn next to him of course.  Or on him.  Or under him.  Blinking, he adjusted his stance.

Well alright then.

Apparently certain parts of him weren’t all that tired.  Pulling back just enough to get a good look at her, he pushed a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.  Darkened stormcloud eyes, red with lack of sleep gazed back at him from under her brow, and his breathing picked up.  Ah…certain parts of her weren’t tired either, were they now.  

Staring at the two stupidly hot (scratch that, Loki was NOT hot) aliens across from him, Tony threw his hands up.  He knew he could’ve handled this better, but there had just been too much shit going wrong with stupid SHIELD lately.  And the way Pepper kept looking at Loki was not cool.  Not to mention his house in Catalina.  He loved that stupid house.  And that water.  Those waves crashing up on the rocks.  The sunsets.

And. So. Much. Equipment—His lab, his suits, all his work.  Gone.  Just…. gone.  Sure he had more equipment and suits here, so all was not completely lost.  But still.  Loki (again, NOT hot) and his little snide retorts weren’t helping Tony’s mood.  He glared at the couple, choosing to ignore Sigyn’s question how this was her boyfriend’s fault because, um, wasn’t that obvious?

“Listen, Prince Vlad,” he started, crossing his arms, “either you stop acting like an entitled brat, or the only place you’ll be sleeping is on the concrete in the basement parking garage,” Tony finished carefully, managing to hold back a myriad of colorful words.

The room went silent then, everyone’s eyes moving back and forth between Tony and Loki like it was a real life spaghetti western at high noon, with tumbleweeds rolling along the ground.  Who would draw first?  Who’s weapon would misfire?  Thinking maybe a little humor would ease the painful tension in the room, Pepper held up a finger.

“I thought he was a king?  I mean obviously he would have been a prince first, but still, wouldn’t King Vlad be more accurate?” Her cheeks flushed red, not only because no one laughed (come ON, people), but also because Loki turned his extremely intense eyes on her for the first time.  Beyond uncomfortable, she averted her eyes.

“Indeed it would be more accurate, Miss….” Loki trailed off before continuing, “I’m sorry.  I’m afraid I don’t recall your name.”

Tilting his head slightly, one brow raised, he pursed his lips before grinning at her.  Clearly, he had an effect on these women, and it was more than a little entertainingto hear these mortals silently wondering what a god was like in bed.  He winced as Sigyn’s elbow collided with his ribs.  

Damn—He’d forgotten her strength.  Surely she knew he had not even the slightest interest in anyone other than her.  He suppressed an eye roll and looked at her with the wide-eyed innocence of a school boy.

What?

Come now.  He hadn’t had sex in three months.  Three months was positively absurd considering the longest he’d gone without, prior to the sixteen years before his first time obviously, had been those two months after he’d met Sigyn when Odin had forced him to keep his distance.  So sex was just…. on the brain.  It meant nothing.  Shrugging, he leaned down, and kissed her forehead, his thoughts of her sans clothing beneath him jolting to a stop when Stark’s woman spoke again.

“Pepper.”

“What?” he asked, blinking to refocus on her face.  He’d clean forgotten the conversation.  Had he asked that woman’s name?  Who cared?  When could he get Sig’s legs around him?  And where?  He looked around.  Maybe there was a closet nearby….

“My name.  My name is Pepper.  You asked what to call me,” she said, voice raised a notch.  She cleared her throat, cheeks burning horribly.  Lord, that was mortifying.  She shouldn’t have said anything.  No more attempts at humor around this guy.  Plus, Tony was probably interpreting this all kinds of wrong.

Loki frowned at her.  Her name was a seasoning for food?  Poor woman.Why would her parents bestow her with such a ridiculous name?  Well, it could have been worse.  They could have chosen Paprika or Tumeric or Cumin or Ginger.  Actually, Ginger wasn’t that bad.  Wait…. no…. ginger wasn’t a spice.  Was it a root?  He squinted at the ceiling, thoughts moving from food seasoning to food itself.  His stomach growled in response, and he groaned.  The extra muscle he’d put on required more sustenance than he was used to, and he hated it.  Eyes scanning the room, he pulled a face.  Where was the scullery in this hideous place?

Tony raised an eyebrow at Loki’s sudden  silence.  Man this guy was weird.  Clearly scatterbrained.  Maybe he should slip him an Adderall or something.  Nah, probably wouldn’t work on his glorious constitution.  Strolling to the bar, Tony pulled out a glass, determined to find whatever had the highest alcohol content by volume.

“So, Loki,” he started, pouring two fingers of whiskey, “as I was saying, this is your fault because you’re the one who pissed off the tesseract which then pissed off my steel framed house.  You should be grateful that I allowed you to get in my chopper at all.”

Eyes widened in mock horror, Loki put his hand over his heart. “Do forgive me, good sir.  Where were my manners?  Thank you for the seat in your meager little flying contraption.”

Sigyn rolled her eyes and hissed, “Will you please control your tongue?  You are making everything worse, Loki.”

Nostrils flaring with barely controlled anger, Loki quirked his jaw as Tony smiled, pointing at Sigyn. ”You’ve got a smart girlfriend there, Mister Rabbit.  Maybe you should let her do the talking.”

Lips pursed, choosing to ignore the Mister Rabbit part, Loki leaned down to Sigyn. “Dare I ask what a girlfriend is?”

His breath was so cool on the skin just below her ear, but her insides were positively melting thanks to that deep baritone.Stifling a moan, she suppressed the urge to start ripping those strange Midgardian garments off him right there in front of everyone.

“Apparently it’s what I am to you,” she answered softly, working hard to control her breathing as she spoke. “Romantic partners.  Lovers.  Oh, and apparently you are my boyfriend.”

Much to everyone’s surprise, Loki laughed out loud.  Shoulders shaking, he could barely spit out his words.

“Who in their right mind would call you a girl?  And even more preposterous, who would call me a boy?”

“Oh no, you’re all man,” Jane whispered, running a hand down her neck, eyes glazing over as she looked him up and down.

Loki stopped laughing and cocked his head, one eyebrow raised, “What was that?”

Face turning beet red, Jane gaped.  Had she said that out loud?  Out-fucking-LOUD? “Oh god,” she said into the palm of the hand she’d brought to her mouth.

Grinning crookedly, Loki winked at her. “Indeed, god is quite accurate.”

Sigyn pulled away from him, glaring at himーWhy the Hel are you flirting with these HUMANS?  I’m standing right here!

Rolling his eyes, he grabbed her and wound his arms around herーOh keep your armor on, Sig.  I’m not flirting.  I’m jesting.  On second thought, please don’t keep your armor on.

Eyes narrowing, she scoffedas he pulled her tighter against him.  She couldn’t hide the smile spreading across her face in response to his suggestive words though, and shaking her head, she wrapped her arms around him.  Norns, she’d missed that clever tongue of his.  No one else in the universe had the same always-at-the-ready wit.  Only he could make her laugh so easily.  Although she wished he would turn off said clever tongue when it came to Stark.  Loki was just aggravating the man.  Not helping.

Still utterly humiliated at her ‘all man’ comment, Jane ran a hand through her hair and cleared her throat.  She needed to get away from that might-as-well-be-sex-god who also happened to be Thor’s brother and who appeared to be having a silent conversation with Sigyn.  Oh god, could they read minds?  Escape was officially necessary.

“Tony,” she asked, “where is your bathroom?”

Thrusting his thumb behind his shoulder, Tony chuckled. “That hall.  First door on the right.  I hope you’re just looking for the toilet or sink, because you’re definitely not gonna find your dignity in there.”

“Screw you!” Jane shouted over her shoulder and headed for the hall.

Chasing after her, Pepper whispered to Tony as she passed him, “Tony, why do you say shit like that?”

Frowning, Loki’s eyes shifted from Sigyn to Tony.  Did the women here typically beg that man to bed them?  Was that why Tony had said such callous words to Jane?  Because she was quite obviously (and rightly) more attracted to an Asgardian king?

“You have a rather sensitive ego, Stark,” he said, arching an eyebrow.

Tony rolled his eyes.  Okay, so his comment to Jane had been unnecessary, but it wasn’t worth getting into.  Straightening his shoulders, he blew out a breath and looked at Loki.

“This is not about ego.  Let’s just get to the point.  We’ve been tossing around words pointlessly, partly my fault, so that’s my bad, but it’s getting old.  I want answers, Loki.  You owe me that much.  You owe everyone that much.  You’re gonna be staying in my tower, so I think I deserve to know a little bit about the guy who claims to be immortal royalty and came through the tesseract and blew up my house.  No more games.”

Loki responded flatly. “I’ve not been playing games, Stark.  I told you that there would be time for answers later.”

“Yeah, you said that on the way here-” Tony crossed his arms “–now we’re here.  Now is later.”

Fighting the urge to hurl one of the hideous armchairs at the man standing behind the wet bar, Loki fisted his hands.  Did Stark have no sense of propriety?  No manners, at all?  Was it not obvious that he truly was exhausted?  He could hardly think of a clever retort, much less explain the events that preceded his appearance in this realm!  Why was this infuriating short little man not showing them to one of the guest quarters?  He’d said he would give the man answers later.  And no, now was most certainly not later.  Chest puffing, Loki set his jaw.  It was a good thing indeed that Coulson and his team of agents weren’t present for if he were to lose it and rip out Tony Stark’s tongue, at least there wouldn’t be twenty guns aimed at him.  Not that the tiny weapons would hurt him in the least, but still, he didn’t wish for the humans to turn on him.  Rubbing a hand down his face, he sighed heavily.

“Later is a relative term.  You clearly interpreted the word differently.  I meant after a night’s rest.  All jesting aside, Stark, I am utterly spent.  Did it not occur to you that travelling across the universe through the cube might have been a bit more than slightly taxing?” Loki shook his head. “You will have your answers.  Tomorrow.”

Scoffing, Tony gaped and looked at his watch. “A night’s rest?  It’s seven o’clock in the morning.  A night’s rest would have been last night.  As in, when you arrived.  The sun just came up.  You telling me that you’re gonna sleep all day and then all night, and then we’ll talk in twenty-four hours?  Are you shitting me?”

Cutting off Loki’s retort which was sure to only escalate things further, Sigyn put a finger to his mouth. If he wanted to rest, he wouldn’t get to with all this snapping back and forth.  Eyes moving to her face, he relaxed, and Sigyn nodded before turning to Tony.

“Mister Stark, you can hardly imagine what Loki has been through.  We may be immortal, but we still fatigue,” she paused, her voice raising, thoroughly vexed now, “so kindly do cease this pettish arguing and give a us a damn bedroom.”

Sighing heavily (these Asgardians clearly weren’t gonna give it up) Tony rolled his eyes.  Whatever.

“Fine.  Forty-second floor.  All yours.  Kitchen.  Bath.  Beds.  But,” he held up his first finger, “I expect answers before lunchtime tomorrow or you can kiss your royal treatment goodbye.”

Nodding once, Loki grabbed Sigyn’s hand, pulling her toward the contraption that Stark had called an ‘elevator’ and pressed the down arrow.  She groaned at the sound of Tony’s voice yelling after them.

“Friendly reminder.  Cameras.  Everywhere.  No sneaking around.”

Rolling his eyes, fairly certain they would end up stuck in that position after today, Loki led Sigyn into the mirrored little box that would take them to their new residence for the foreseeable future, and slamming his palm against the forty-second button, he turned to face her.  Licking his lips, he crossed the space in one long stride and pushed her up against the back wall, one thigh between her legs.  He brought his hands to her neck, dragging her face up to his as she clung to his shoulders.  Lips parting, he licked her bottom lip, eliciting a sultry moan from her as she opened her mouth for him.  Seconds later, the doors opened, and his hands left her neck to snake around her waist, holding her flush with his body.  Lips never leaving hers, he walked backward, pulling her into the condo.

Fuck, that thing she was doing with her tongue would be the end of him.  Their passionate first kiss in Stark’s basement lab after his supposed death hadn’t been enough for him.  Not nearly enough.  One hand sliding up to the nape of her neck, the other crushing her ribs, he walked forward, pushing her toward the closest wall.  Desperate to resume what he started in the elevator, he began slowly grinding his hips into hers.

“Loki,” she gasped against his lips, hands in his hair, “they can see us….” she trailed off, eyes rolling back when he cupped her, rubbing her just right with his palm.  By the Norns, he wasn’t even using his fingers, and her leggings were still on, yet she felt she might finish right there.

“What was that, love?” he murmured, trailing a slow line of bruising kisses down her jaw.  He pushed his jacket, which she’d clearly stolen from his dressing room back home (he smiled at the thought of home) off her shoulders and tugged the too long sleeves forcefully down.  He needed her out of her clothes.  Now.

Arching her back, molding her body to his, Sigyn blinked, trying to gather her wits.  She ached to feel him inside her, but not like this—not with those stupid cameras everywhere.  But how the Hel was she supposed to stop with him sucking on her lip like that….like he was starving for her?  Not to mention those absolutely perfect hips of his, relentlessly turning her into a pile of hormonal mush.  Oh Hel, his mouth felt so good on hers, and his extremely obvious arousal against her thigh was driving her mad, but she had to put some space between them for a second.  Grabbing the roots of his hair, she yanked his head back.  Yanked hard.

“Ahh!” he shouted, wincing at the pain shooting across his scalp.  Eyes narrowed, he reached behind his neck and pulled her hands away.  She wanted him to be rougher?

Oh, he could do rough.

Before he could kiss her again, or bite her more likely, she put her fingers on his mouth.  Breathing heavily, she swiped her hair from her face and pointed to several cameras scattered throughout the room high on the walls near the ceiling.

“Get rid of them,” she ordered, breathless.

Jaw jutting out, Loki growled and stepped away from her reluctantly.  Pulling off his own jacket, he tossed it on the couch and walked toward one of the pesky contraptions.  Jumping, he grabbed the camera from its spot six feet over his head and ripped it out of the wall.  He then proceeded to detach the rest as Sigyn wandered down the hall opening and closing doors.  Bathroom.  Another bathroom.  A library.  A room with a desk…. business quarters perhaps?  But where was….?

Throwing open the last door angrily, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank. The. Norns.”

The room had a positively gigantic white bed, and the entire eastern facing wall was an exposed glass window flooding the room with light.  It would have been lovely to wake up to, but not so lovely at the moment considering she was interested in sleeping.  Well, not just sleeping.  She walked to the absurdly huge window and yanked on the drapes, laughing quietly at the sounds of Loki swearing at the ‘evil fucking sneaky artificial little peeping monsters’ and the resulting crashes, which she assumed was the sound of him throwing them across the room.  She shrieked then, startled as his arms came around her from behind.

Oh gods—He’d removed his shirt, and the feel of his exposed torso behind her sent an actual shiver down her spine.  Leaning her head back on his shoulder, she reached up around the back of his neck as he bent down, placing slow open mouthed kisses along the hollow of her throat.  When she opened her eyes (she needed to see his), she pulled away abruptly, glaring at the sight of another camera.

“Tony Stark is the most paranoid man I have ever met,” she huffed, watching Loki remove it along with the other four in the room.

Crushing them in his palm, he looked around, one eyebrow raised. “All clear?”

She did a quick sweep, eyes narrow. “I think s-“

His mouth was on hers before she got the words out, unbuckling his belt with one hand, the other in her hair.  Gods, finally.  He popped the button of his trousers, desperate to relieve the pressure that had built to a fever pitch, and shoved her against the wall one step behind her.

Well…. more like into the wall.  She yelped into his mouth as the too soft dry wall crumbled behind her back, and Loki retracted his tongue, eyes flying open at her cry.  He gaped at the wall before shaking his head quickly.

“So,” he touched the damaged wall with the tips of his fingers, “it would seem wall sex is out of the question then.” Reaching down, he gripped her backside, and lifted her easily, biting his lip and groaning when she wrapped her legs around him.

“No matter.  I’ll take you anywhere,” he said, looking around as though unsure where to go.

“Take me to the bed, you ridiculous man,” she nuzzled his hair, adoring the feel of his shoulders shaking and his throaty laugh tickling her ear.  Sweet Valhalla, she couldn’t love him more if she tried.

“Right,” he said, smiling against her teeth when she brought her mouth to his again. “That would be the natural choice.  Now, let me get you out of these cruel clothes.”

Taking her to the bed as she’d instructed him to, he set her down about a foot from the edge, and without hesitation, he ripped the back laces of her leather armored corset and tossed the heavy thing on the floor.  As she kicked off her boots, he grabbed the collar of her grey under tunic and split the fabric right down the middle, because why wouldn’t he literally tear the bloody garments off her?  His eyes went wide, and he made a deep distinctly male sound.

Gods damn.

This was a view he’d thought he would never see again.  The phrase ‘sight for sore eyes’ didn’t begin to cover it.

“Sig,” he exhaled while yanking her pants down her legs, “you are even more ravishing than I remembered.” Squatting, he slid them forcefully over her ankles and looked up at her from under his brow, a few stray inky locks hanging in his face.

“You ruined my only clothes, Loki,” she pointed out, not remotely caring about the matter.

“And I’m not sorry in the slightest,” he smirked, standing back to his full height.

Wetting her lips, she jerked his belt through the loops on his pants, thoroughly enjoying its resounding thwack.  Breathing heavily, she lowered his zipper with one hand, while sliding the other down his stomach and lower, beneath his open fly.  His head fell back, jaw dropping when her hand wrapped around him, slowly stroking him.  Groaning deep in his chest, he pushed her backwards toward the bed.  The backs of her knees collided with the edge, and she fell onto the soft duvet, Loki landing on top of her.

“Umph!” Odin’s ravens, he was heavier than she remembered.  He’d thoroughly knocked the wind out of her.

“Sorry,” he whispered, pushing up on his elbows as the bed sagged under their weight.

Damn this human craftsmanship.  They were not going to be able to be as aggressive in their lovemaking as he’d hoped.  Well, they could, but it would have to be on the floor.  Nothing wrong with floor sex.  They’d done it plenty before.  Sliding his hand up her thigh, he pushed into her completely in one hard thrust.

Norns, she was so tight.  Even aroused as she was, the motion hadn’t been easy.  He felt her resistance, and her resulting hiss gave him pause.  Oh gods, he’d hurt her.  Maybe he should have been more gentle.  He’d been dreaming of a moment like this since his fall, but obviously, never had the dreams included causing her pain.  He’d never caused her pain, but he’d not considered that it had been three months for her, too.  Yes, he should have been more gentle, but he’d just needed to be inside her.  Selfish brute, he scolded himself silently.  Much to his surprise, and relief, she opened her eyes, grinning up at him, an eyebrow quirked.

Why did you stop?

He answered her silent question out loud. “I thought I’d hurt you.”

“Never,” she reached up to gather his hair at the nape of his neck and hold it there.

Breathing hard, he nodded, and arching his back, he pulled almost completely out before pushing inside her again, slowly this time, to the hilt.  His mouth fell open, eyes sliding closed.

Fucking Hel—Despite thinking of her like this over and over, he’d not touched himself during the last three months, and as such, he was far more sensitive than he would have liked.  Shit, how was he going to make this last?  Three months.  Three godsdamn months without her.  Tilting her hips up, hitting the exact spot that he remembered pleased her the most (how could he forget?), he kept his pace slow and steady, trying to focus on anything other than the euphoria radiating from the point of their union.

As his speed gradually increased, her hands traveled down the muscles of his back, catching on the back of his pants.  Wait…. why were those still on?  Sure, his front was completely exposed by the open zipper, but why the Hel had she not yanked his trousers off?  She needed to feel, to see every single inch of his body.  Smoothing her hands beneath the waistband, she pushed the heavy fabric as far down as she could reach, digging her fingers into one of her favorite parts of his body.  That movement automatically pulled him deeper inside of her, and she moaned so loud, the entire godsdamn building probably heard it.   Biting her lip, she slid one hand back up his spine to tangle in his hair.  She knew he hadn’t grown in size, but it sure as Hel felt that way.  She wasn’t certain if what she felt was pleasure or pain.  No matter.  Her body would adjust to him…. only him.  The familiar push and the pull, the movement that was so distinctly Loki and not just some second rate replacement, had her stifling a cry.  A happy cry, a relieved cry, a thank-the-norns-that-he-came-back cry.

“I can’t,” he suddenly croaked into her mouth a small eternity later.

Small eternity indeed.  He was impressed that he’d lasted this long, but his stamina was most certainly not up to par, as they say.  Hopefully she wouldn’t judge his first effort in three months without taking that into consideration.  He felt her grip tighten on both his neck and his backside, her muscles starting to twitch around him.

“Give me twenty more seconds,” she panted. (Begged, more like)

His eyes went wide—TWENTY SECONDS?

Fuck, he could not do twenty seconds.  He was far too gone, and that glorious yet dreadful point of no return was upon him.  Gritting his teeth, he lifted her hips higher and drove into her harder (please don’t break the bed) knowing the extra force would save him ten seconds.  Ten seconds that he didn’t have left in him.

Eyes narrowing, he growled, “Come on, Sig.  Come for me.”

That was all it took.  His gravelly voice—that commanding aggression—had always been her weakness.  There were times when lazy tender sex was called for, but this was not that time.  Not when she’d just found him again.  Deeply intimate, rough lovemaking was exactly what she needed.  Head falling back, mouth agape, she savored the mind-blowing shock waves coursing through her body.

Cursing in about nine different languages, with one more thrust of his hips, Loki shuddered against her, thanking the Norns that she’d finished first.  Oh with just a bit more practice, they’d be right back to endless sessions.  He smiled at the thought. 

Panting against each other, covered in a thin layer of sweat, he leaned his forehead on hers as she combed her fingers through his hair.  Grin spreading across her flushed cheeks, she bumped his nose with hers.  She looked around, wondering when she would wake up.

Hearing her thoughts, Loki spoke softly. “You’re not dreaming, love.  I’m here.”

Saying nothing, she wiped a stray tear from her eye and hugged him.  He pulled back just enough to bring her mouth to his before they rolled to their sides, limbs still entangled.  Ah, sleep.  They were about to fall into the absolute best sleep of their lives.  Free of all cares.  Back where they belonged.  Together in one bed.  Who cared that it was in Midgard?  They would get back to Asgard eventually.  He didn’t know how they would accomplish that, but hopefully he would learn how to use that damn cube. 

Wait—How had Sig come here?  Had the bifrost been repaired so soon?  He squeezed her tighter, adoring the feel of her breath on his neck.  Stop thinking, Loki, he urged himself silently. There would be time for questions, for answers, for strategies, for treading softly, for everything.

Tomorrow.

FEARLESS CONTINUES IN CHAPTER TWO: TALK SOME SENSE TO ME, SIG

Visit the Trilogy main page HERE.

Chapter links: ¹ You’ll Have Answers Later ² Talk Some Sense to Me, Sig. ³ Interlude in Asgard (Endless Grief) ⁴ Wild Magic (It’s All We Have) ⁵ Heat is My Specialty (What is Blue For) ⁶ Storms Pass, Loki. ⁷ Trust Me, I’ve Got This. ⁸ A Heavy Gift ⁹ Sick and Tired ¹⁰ Hold On, We’re Going Home (Green Is for Life Part 2) ¹¹ Home is Chaos ¹² Looks That Kill ¹³ Living Ghosts ¹⁴ No Rules (Tick Tock) ¹⁵ The Calm ¹⁶ The Storm

Chapter 17 Coming October 2021

CHAPTER ONE THEME SONG:

“Slow” by Matoma ft. Noah Cyrus

FEATURED MUSIC:

“Stranglehold“ by Ted Nugent (for Sig)

What Readers Have Said

About CH 1 “You’ll Have Your Answers Later.”

“You are back! Yesssssshhhh!!! Oh, Tony is going to regret mistreating the magic beings once he realizes what they can do. Can’t wait to see his face! Did they really got all the cameras? If not, then Sig might just kill someone, no? So are we getting chapter 2 tomorrow???”

-Pixelerrante, on CH 1 “You’ll Have Your Answers Later” , 01 Oct 2017 (AO3)

“Fabulous!!! Sig & Loki’s silent conversations are my favorite. I’m steeling myself for a possible Major Character Death, but I’ll enjoy the fun stuff for now. Great job!!”

-RomanticObsession, on CH 1 “You’ll Have Your Answers Later” , 01 Oct 2017 (AO3)

“I’m so happy you updated this sequel. I’ve had a crazy day, but at least I had something to look forward to! Finally they’re back together, and if you hadn’t had them celebrate in the first chapter I would have called you insane. Tony is being a bit of a jerk… I get that his house just blew up, but those two just traveled through space – he could give them a few hours to rest! Your introduction was almost as good as the chapter. What is Thor doing? It doesn’t surprise me he’s messing stuff up, but it seemed like his ruling is destroying the nine realms. Can’t wait to find out more!”

Nosside, on CH 1 “You’ll Have Your Answers Later” , 01 Oct 2017 (AO3)

“Awesome they’re back together. Heads will roll. Not a dream Sigyn – he’s really there alive and can’t wait to get back to the endless sessions.”

-Shay, on CH 1 “You’ll Have Your Answers Later” , 03 Oct 2017 (AO3)

“They are together again, I’M SO HAPPY!!! Tony really doesn’t like it when he isn’t the center of attention. If he starts hitting on Sigyn in retaliation for Pepper’s flirting, it’s gonna get ugly fast.”

-Ferbette, on CH 1 “You’ll Have Your Answers Later” , 27 Nov 2017 (AO3)

“I LOVE the fact that they’re finally together again. I am so happy for them! Love Loki breaking the camera’s and his conversations with Sigyn and banter with Tony. Tony’s reaction to Loki is priceless! Jane and Peppers interactions with Loki are funny as well. I see your story is unfinished, does this mean you will write more in the future? Love where this story goes. I hope they can get back to Asgard soon and that Loki can reclaim his throne, he sure deserves it! Can’t wait to read the rest of your story.”

-Maïté, on CH 1 “You’ll Have Your Answers Later” , 21 Sep 2019 (AO3)

“✨They deserve it✨”

-Harrypotterfreakie, on CH 1 “You’ll Have Your Answers Later” , 26 Aug 2021 (AO3)

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Please feel free to leave a comment below. Reviews are (almost always *wink*) a source of excitement and humble joy for Jen!