Recompense [Fólkvangr End, Book 1] [Loki Fanfiction]

Chapter Forty-Five

Author's Note: I am prepared to have my tongue cut out. For I, George Washington, have told a lie. I apologize for not updating when I said I would. I have trouble keeping my word when it comes to updates because sometimes life sneaks up on me. Also, I'm trying to multitask finishing, editing and watching Catfish. It's my guilty pleasure. Okay, okay, enough with the rambling, and onto a sexy new chapter. I don't know why I said sexy. It's been a long day.

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“So, this plan of yours…” Loki is prying again despite my resistance to tell him what my plan entails. I stop running my fingers through his hair and rest my hands on his shoulders, his head in my lap.

“Loki, I’m sorry but I cannot tell you.”

“It is not advisable to keep secrets from me.”

I roll my eyes, “All I can say is that I am certain it will work. Now we have other things to worry about,” I purr in his ear, “namely, our wedding.”

Loki lays his head back all the way so he can look up at me and I arch an eyebrow, smiling demurely down at him. “Do not jest about that subject.” He closes his eyes and settles further into my lap.

“I’m not,” I smirk. He opens one eye. “Odin has given permission. Our wedding is in two days’ time.” He opens both eyes and stares at me, mouth agape. “Unless, of course, you no longer wish to be married.”

Loki sits upright and immediately consumes my mouth with his, nearly tackling me back into the pillows of his bed. “I’ll take that as a yes,” I breathe against his warm lips. His tongue is in my mouth, running gently across my teeth, his lips eager on mine. He tugs gently at my lower lip with his teeth before kissing me again, with a hunger and a different passion. His fingers run up my shirt, dancing lightly across my skin and I allow his hands to explore my body in a way I have not allowed him before. I enjoy the intimacy of his touch more than I would probably be willing tell him, and in a way that I quite honestly don’t know what to do with myself. I’m not accustomed to or well-versed in the ways of physical intimacy. I hardly know how to kiss properly, let alone…other things.

I pull my mouth away, catching my breath for just a moment before he returns to kissing me, lips traversing the area from my neck to my forehead and back again. He sits up a moment, straddling my lap, and he kisses my fingertips before reaching down to the bottom of my shirt and pulling it off of me in a painfully awkward and altogether not quite like a movie derobing. His fingers get caught in my hair, my necklace catching the fabric of my shirt. When he finally manages to remove it and looks at me again, giving me his sexy bedroom eyes, I literally can do nothing but burst out into peals of laughter.

He frowns, unamused, as I wipe the tears from the corners of my eyes and throw my head back with laughter. He takes this opportunity to grasp me by the back of the neck and playfully bite at the side of my neck. He nips my earlobe lightly before kissing the sensitive spot just below it. I shudder involuntarily and he lets out a throaty laugh against my chest.

“Loki,” I begin, but realize I am uncertain of how to finish that sentence. Instead I flip him over onto his back, giving myself the upper hand. He smiles at me. “Maybe this is just me being old fashioned, but I’d rather we, uh, abstain?”

He arches an eyebrow slowly and deliberately, smirking at me. “I would wait a lifetime for you.”

“You would?” I ask, surprised.

He laughs and I can feel the vibrations of his laughter through my hands upon his chest. “No.”

“You, sir, are a jerk!” I push away, teasing him. I roll off of him, grabbing my shirt and shrugging back into it. I start to climb off his bed but he grabs me by the waist and tosses me back, wrapping me up tightly in his blanket, properly cocooning me before throwing me over his shoulder. “Where the hell do you think we’re going?”

“To see Thor,” Loki says quietly, tickling my side. I flail uselessly as I am restricted by the blanket.

“And then what?”

“And then, you go to sleep.”

I grumble into the warm fabric and Loki chuckles, “You need your rest. Important things are coming, love.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I mumble, half stifled by the blanket. “Loki I’m overheating in here—save me!”

Loki laughs again, “Spare me your dramatics.” I wriggle my head clear so that I can see, but all I can make out is Loki’s ass and the floor.

“Nice butt,” I comment offhandedly. Suddenly my narrow vision is whirled as I am passed into another set of arms. Thor unwraps me, carrying me over his shoulder like Loki did. “Thor has a nicer ass.”

“Many thanks!” Thor says triumphantly and I can’t help but laugh. He places me onto my feet and I look up at him and then I glance at Loki, both of them laughing. All of us happy. I reach down and take each of them by the hand, squeezing them tightly.

“I just want to take a second to appreciate the fun we are having now. Because we all know it will not last much longer,” I say solemnly. “And, if this is my only chance to say it, then I would like to say thank you. Thank you for—”

“Don’t,” Loki breathes and I arch an eyebrow at him. “You will have plenty of chances to thank us later. Do not think so definitively now.”

I sigh, letting go of them both. “We are headed into danger, Loki. Don’t you dare think for a moment that that doesn’t worry me. I am worried about both of you, and I am worried about Asgard. If we die—”

“No one is going to die.” Loki says firmly, quickly pressing a kiss to my forehead before disappearing entirely. I stand, surprised for a moment, until Thor sort of jolts me back to reality, slinging his arm about my shoulders.

I whisper, “No one is going to die.”

“You understand that is not a guarantee I can make, Lady Val,” Thor says.

“I know. I understand. No one can guarantee that any of us will be safe,” I nod. “That terrifies me.”

Thor embraces me tightly and makes me feel safe even if it is just for a moment. He rests his chin atop my head and murmurs into my hair. “Ég heit að vernda þig.”

“Me too,” I say without knowing what I am echoing. But if I know Thor, I know he is being brave and strong just for me. He nuzzles my hair slightly before pressing a warm kiss to the crown of my head. I press my fingers tightly into his back muscles, glad to have a friend…a brother like Thor.

“Valkyrie,” Thor says suddenly, holding me out at arm’s length. A crooked smile crosses his face and I see the startling similarity between the non-genetic brothers. “I have a glorious surprise for you.”

“Oh? That does sound nice…” I say suspiciously. Thor grins even wider.

“My father has agreed to something…something I believe may help us, and something I know will certainly make you happy. Of course, it will require some effort on both you and Loki’s behalf.”

“I am not sure where this is going.”

Thor grins still, “It is not so much a matter of departing as it is arriving. Something special is coming to Asgard.”