This Time Around (Sequel to All Over Again)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The room was quiet and dark, only a few flickering candles remained lit. McKenna lay peacefully in Loki's arms, her head on his chest, her arm draped over his belly. His fingers weren't still, but stroked along the length of her hair.

The bed was a mess, the pillows at the foot instead of the head, the comforter and blankets half on the floor. She'd lost track of time and she didn't care how late it was. Nothing mattered when the remnants of another climax still rippled through her.

"A penny for your thoughts," she whispered to break the comfortable silence.

"I beg your pardon?"

With a soft laugh, she looked up at him. "It means, what're you thinking?"

"Truth? Not much." He kissed the top of her head. "I was almost asleep, actually."

"I'm sorry I woke you, then."

"Don't be." He stretched, tightening his arm about her as she sank back into him. "I don't mind."

"I hate to see this night end," she confessed, tracing small circles around his navel with just the tip of her forefinger. "Although, if I'm lucky, I'll be able to walk come morning."

A sleepy smile played at his lips. "If you're lucky? Love, I think you might have turned me inside out."

"Sorry."

"Oh, do not apologize." He tightened his arm about her shoulders to cradle her even closer. "This night is one I will not soon forget."

"Me, neither." She snuggled closer and fell quiet for a few minutes. Then, she looked up at him again. "Loki?"

"What, love?"

"You know I trust you, right?" She rose onto her elbow to peer down at him. "I mean, you didn't have to assure me you'd have released me. I trust you."

"I know you do, love. But you still looked a bit frightened so I didn't see in any harm in reassuring you."

"Because I trust you more than anyone else in the world, and I don't say that to a whole lot of people. Not a lot of people have done much to earn my trust and usually, I've regretted giving it. But not to you. Never to you."

"Darling girl," he shifted, rolling over to cover her from the waist up, "I know you trust me. I've known it since the very beginning, when you slept in the same room with me. Under the same roof with me. You were at your most vulnerable and yet, you trusted me enough to put you in your bed when you'd had too much wine."

She smiled, the memory as fresh in her mind as if it happened only four days ago and not four years ago. "And I tried to get you to come to bed with me, remember? I was kind of disappointed that you turned me down."

"Indeed I do remember." He dipped down to brush her lips with a soft kiss. "And I wish I had taken you up on the offer."

"Why didn't you? Any other guy probably would have."

"Because I've never taken advantage of drunken women." He brought a hand to her face, curving it against her cheek. His palm was warm, his thumb light as it grazed along her cheekbone. "And it's probably just as well I didn't. It would have made me a very easy target for the Chitauri. Even now, after I know every inch of you-" he grinned as her cheeks grew warm-"I still lose myself in you. Someone could walk in on us and I'd never notice them. Everything else tends to fade into the background when I'm with you."

She slid her arms about his neck. "Do tell?"

He chuckled softly and kissed the tip of her nose. "I love you."