I see you || Loki

13. Reading Rendez-vous

The library felt too... crowded lately. Not that there were any more people than usual, but you felt their eyes on you all the same. Which was ridiculous. There was no physical change in you whatsoever, no outward sign of any line crossed. No inward sign, either, for that matter. Yet here you were, hiding in your room.

It wasn't that you were avoiding Loki. You just didn't want to see him yet. You needed a moment—a minute—to get your head on straight, to put yourself back in order and address if something fundamental had changed. And if it was something that you wanted to happen again. After everything you'd done with Loki... You couldn't be the only one who'd been pleased with the way your bodies had moved together. Stars, the thought of his hands holding yours as he thrust inside you still made you shiver.

Don't forget to breathe, love.

You shook yourself and pulled your book (A History of Asgardian Fabric Production) into your lap. It didn't matter; you weren't dealing with Loki right now. You would handle that headache when you reached it. You flipped to the chapter where you had left off.

Your eyes followed the letters on the page, looking, but hardly comprehending. In fact, the symbols almost seemed to move in the candlelight. You pulled the page closer to your face. What in all the stars...?

The ink on the paper transformed into a flood of beetles that spilled over the pages. You dropped the book with a shriek and shot off the couch, brushing desperately at your skin and clothes to remove the insects. A few panicked seconds later, you stood in the middle of your floor, heart pounding as if it could escape. When you looked back to the couch, the book laid open, but no trace of the beetles remained. None anywhere, though there had been hordes of them only seconds before. They had been there—right there! Unless... they hadn't.

"Loki," you hissed.

"You called?" Loki captured your face in his hands and pulled you up for a crushing kiss before you could react.

You shoved him away. "I didn't call; I cursed."

He drew you back to him, his hands snaking around your waist. "And yet, I get the same result."

"That was a terrible trick."

"Poor sweet." He nuzzled at your throat. "I can feel your heart race. Were you frightened?"

"Why do you enjoy tormenting me?"

"I love to see all sorts of expressions on that lovely face of yours." He bumped his nose against yours. "I keep finding new ones."

You shoved against his chest with no effect. "Leave me be."

"What will you give me if I do?"

"Nothing you'll enjoy."

His face split in a smile. "Such threats, little spitfire." He released you and took your space on the couch. "Shall we see where they lead?" He lounged across the cushions, picked up your book, and flipped through a few pages. "This seems dreadfully dull."

"I find it interesting."

"I suppose you would." Loki looked up at you, a heated stare that made your breath catch. "You do have so many varied interests." How could he make even that innocuous statement sound like a filthy secret? He winked at you and turned back to consider the pages in front of him. "I suppose this could be entertaining, since it comes so highly recommended..."

"You just called it dull. You don't even want to read it."

"Of course I don't." He snapped it shut and held it out to you. "I want you to read it to me."

"What?"

"Read it to me."

"Yes, I heard you."

"Then why did you ask?"