Sweet Sinful Revenge

Chapter Ten

"So, when are you going back?" Natasha asked casually, for want of something better to say. But she immediately wished she hadn't, fearing that her polite enquiry sounded almost desperately needy.

Loki's body twitched almost imperceptibly with discomfort. "If you mean home, to Asgard, well....I don't plan to return there anytime soon."

A long silence ensued. Save for the soft unrelenting sound of the lapping waves against the shoreline, the world was serene and blissfully tranquil and silent around them.

They were lay on the sand, Loki flat on his back after having rearranged his clothing accordingly, and Natasha on her side, her clothing still very much in disarray. The cool leather of his armour felt soft and cool against her bare breasts, as she lay with her small body curled against him, drawn by the heat of his own body. He'd wrapped a protective arm around her absently, and her head had somehow come to rest on his chest without her even noticing.

"Do you know where you'll go?" She enquired with genuine interest, rather than ask why he didn't want to return to his own world. It wasn't her place to ask, regardless of how alarmingly comfortable they were becoming with one another.

"No." He replied calmly. "I haven't as yet given it much consideration. What about you? What are you going to do now?"

She sighed and closed her eyes, wanting to lose herself in the surreality of the moment rather than let harsh reality set-in. "I have no idea. I guess I will have to go back. There's nothing else I can do."

"Nonsense. There's always an alternative in any given situation."

"Oh yeah? Like what exactly? This is my life, it's what I was made for."

"What, this?" He gave her a small squeeze to emphasise his point, and to his surprise she laughed, which made him feel oddly gratified.

"Far from it. This is the sort of thing I've never been prepared for. Going from one mission to the next, taking out one target after another. That's my life. Not..." She paused, searching for the right words but there didn't seem to be any. "Well, whatever this is."

"You astound me, Miss Romanoff. A beautiful young woman like yourself, I would have thought you'd be well accustomed to romantic trysts."

Natasha snickered. "Romantic trysts? Um, no. They don't approve of that kind of thing. We're trained for one purpose only. They tell me who and where, and I just go. No questions asked."

"And who are 'they' exactly? The KGB?"

She stiffened slightly in his arms. "How did you know? Did you go through my phone? Or is it part of your godly magic to know everything about everyone?"

It was then his turn to laugh, and she felt it as a deep rumble through his chest. "Hardly. It's more of a freakish coincidence my having already learned so much about you."

Natasha sat up, placing a hand on his chest and gazed down at him quizzically. Her large moss-green eyes were filled with curious interest. "I'm not a big believer in coincidence. But then again I wasn't a big believer in gods and monsters, myths and magic, until you showed up."

Loki held her gaze with unwavering focus, the blossoming look of adoration in her eyes caused a deeply unsettling stirring in his chest. One that made him ache for more of this. Intimacy. A connection, a chemistry. And it wasn't entirely unpleasant. On the contrary, this closeness felt alarmingly good. Natural even.

"If it's any consolation Miss Romanoff, you've similarly shattered some of my own beliefs."

"Oh really. Such as?"