Infatuated with a God

Chapter One-Hundred and Thirty

Kaya

At some point I must have drifted off to sleep, and for the first time since returning from Asgard it felt completely peaceful. No dream, no stress, just comfort and warmth, despite being curled on a sofa. I was also less cold than I had been before and Loki's seiðr was stronger now. At least it hadn't taken him too long to regain his strength, he could become somewhat skittish if he felt unable to protect himself for too long. I tried my best to get back to sleep, but at some point my shifting must have indicated to him that I'd woken up. His hand settled back into my hair as he pulled it off of my neck.

"It's still late darling, did you want to go to bed?"

"I'm okay staying here if you still want to read."

"It isn't books I'm reading, so I'm more than happy to retreat to the bedroom." Curious, and knowing I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, I sat up to look at what he was reading. To my surprise it was a screen he was staring at. It was surprising how happy I felt about how well he was adapting to technology here. I never thought I'd see the day where he was using the internet when he could barely work a phone a few months ago.

"Why on Earth are you looking at news stories?" He chuckled softly before bringing an arm around me and letting me lean into him. I couldn't help but relax into him, enjoying the scent of lavender from him. The blanket never could do it justice.

"We missed the last briefing with the team whilst we were gone, and I was curious about what happened following our dance at Stark's ball." I rolled my eyes as he referred to a party as a ball, but finally peered over enough to read the article on his screen. I was met with a beautiful picture of the two of us gazing into each other's eyes as we danced together. I recognised it as the one of the photos I'd managed to get Nat to print for me. How complicated things seemed then, and how simple it feels now. I longed for the time where the biggest issue was confessing my feelings to him. I smiled as I remembered how ridiculously nervous I was at the time.

"Mm, I'm sure they had an absolute field day with that."

"From the looks of it Stark covered it with his press tour and upcoming donations to various institutes. Most of the questions surrounding our relationship status were dodged or ignored. Though there were some less than favourable social media posts around it, it was to be expected. Just know that not everyone is exactly a fan of either of us." With a sigh he commanded FRIDAY to close the screen as he reached out to me, reaching his hands to my waist and pulling me gently to straddle him. "But people have, for the most part, stopped believing you are dating the oaf. So I'd call that a success. Pretty much everyone knows you are mine." His lips grazed my neck slightly causing me to sigh contently. For a brief moment it almost felt like everything was normal between us.

But it wasn't real, simply a further distraction from how terrible we both felt. I felt the vibrations in my neck as he hummed slightly against my skin. Why did his distractions have to feel so good to me? It was like I couldn't get my body to behave itself around him. What was worse is how clearly he knew how I reacted to him. I could feel his lips turning into a sly grin against my skin and his arrogant sultry chuckle soon followed. Then ever so slowly I felt his nose graze up my neck until his lips aligned with that sensitive spot just below my ear.

"Loki..." I wanted to warn him that after everything we've been through today that we shouldn't be falling back into this pattern. It wasn't healthy to keep distracting ourselves. But then he placed a small, far too chase kiss, on the skin there.

"Yes pet?" Fuck. It was incredible how just one nickname could cause such an effect on me. I felt the goosebumps spread over my arm as a pleasant shiver came over me. If I didn't try to stop it soon I doubt I'd have the will to. I was already questioning if I should.