Unfettered (Loki x Reader)

Chapter 18 - An Explanation

Sun filters in through cream-colored curtains, landing in puddles of muted gold across blankets warm to the touch. Eyes still closed - barely torn from sleep - you breathe in deep, pulling the blankets tighter. With a languid stretch, your legs brush against skin. Your call to Perception jolts you awake as your eyes fly open to find silken, raven hair sprawled across satin sheets. Pale skin. Dry lips. 

Oh fuck. 

You freeze, going completely still as the memory of the night before comes rushing back. Strong hands, warm tongue, hard-.

Stop it, you think, cutting off your own thoughts as warmth floods your cheeks. Focus. Have to get out. 

Without moving a single muscle in your body, you let your eyes roam what little of the room you can see, searching for an escape route. You're no longer on the sofa, clearly. Loki must have carried you to bed after falling asleep on his shoulder. 

He...brought me to bed?

Your gaze drifts back to the man before you. Only inches away. Still asleep. Likely exhausted, based on the sorry state you had found him in the night before. But those bags beneath his eyes are gone. You trace the outline of his cheeks, making a mental note of just how calm he looks. How...gentle. All the tension, all the rage, just...gone.

You barely recognize this man. 

You have to get out. He's dangerous.

That voice in your head speaks up once more as panic flares inside your chest again. You know you should leave. Whatever the hell happened last night was a lapse of judgment. A result of weeks without proper rest - for either of you. 

Get out!

You tense, and slowly pull your leg away from where your knees rest against each other. But the moment you break contact, Loki inhales in his sleep, a tiny frown pulling at the edge of his lips. Your heart lurches, and suddenly you want very badly to stay. 

You linger a moment longer, watching each minute twitch in Loki's face as his breathing remains deep and even. A long strand of hair gets caught in his breath, and falls across his face. You wince each time his inhale sucks the strand between his lips. Without thinking, you reach for that strand, and carefully brush it away. As you tuck it back behind his ear, Loki mumbles something beneath his breath. You freeze once more, wide-eyed and afraid. But he quickly settles, and falls back into his breathing rhythm. 

But your fingers linger in his hair. 

It sends a gentle, warm buzz through your chest. Not quite a call to your Perception, but almost. It reminds you of the Genetic Link you made with Loki the night before. 

You're desperate to feel that again. If only for a moment. 

Slowly, gently so as not to wake him, you extend your hand, lightly placing the the tips of your fingers on his bare chest. The second you do, that warm vibration is back.

What is this? you wonder, intrigued. Genetic Links often leave lingering sensations. But none have ever left you feeling like this. 

Growing bold, you gently press your palm flat against his chest, fingers spread wide as the firm beat of his heart plays against your touch. 

*Thump thump* *thump thump* *thump thump*

For several long minutes you marvel in silence at just how...human he feels. You hadn't thought about it before, but you suppose you never really knew for certain whether Asgardian Gods, or whatever Loki is, have hearts the way mortals do.