Heaven Sent (Loki/Asgard Fanfiction - Aislinn's Story)

Chapter Ten

The perfect moment to tell Steve the truth about herself just never seemed to materialize. Over the course of the next week, night after night, she and Steve were together and she couldn't remember the last time ten days passed by so quickly, or the last time she felt as if she walked on air as she did when she was with him. And with each day, she promised herself she'd tell him tomorrow.

Tomorrow. I'll tell him tomorrow.

But tomorrow was Saturday--swap day at the Jersey Shore. The day when the renters vacated their rental by eleven so the new renters could check in after two.

The day Aislinn had dreaded since meeting Steve.

He lived in Branchburg. Almost two hours north of Mantoloking. And when he returned home, it was to football camp. Then practice. In short, he was returning to his life.

Aislinn didn't want to think about it as they lay on the beach under a light blanket. The sun had set earlier, the sky was clear and spangled with a million stars, and she was perfectly content to just remain where she was, curved against him, her head tucked against his shoulder, hearing the faint thud of his heart beating under her right ear, feeling his fingers as they trailed over her hair.

The tide was going out, so they were in no danger of being washed away, and the soft whoosh of the small waves breaking was actually quite soothing.

"What's on your mind?" Steve murmured, his arm tightening about her.

"I wish tomorrow wasn't Saturday."

"Branchburg isn't that far away, you know. Come up and I'll show you around."

"I know, but I've gotten spoiled with you being right here."

His laugh rose into the darkness. "You and me, both. But, time never stops. If you're lucky, it slows down a little, but that's it." He shifted onto one elbow and gazed down at her, bringing the hand that had been on her hair to her cheek. "So, make plans to come north. My condo's small, but it's clean and there are no frat boys there. Just me."

"And what am I supposed to do while you're off with your football stuff?"

"Come oooh and ahhh over me. Stroke my ego. Get a few high school boys all horned up. I don't care. I'll be at the high school and you'd be welcome to watch."

"No offense, Steve, but that sounds very boring for me."

He smiled. "Yeah, I imagine it would. I don't know. We'll think of something."

Before she could answer, he dipped down, capturing her lips in a soft kiss. She wound her arms about his neck, her fingers slipping through his hair, brushing against his nape. His lips parted, the tip of his tongue teasing her lips until she couldn't help but chuckle. Then, the urge to laugh died as his tongue caressed hers, as he came down to press her into the sand.

She tightened her arms about him, as if that would somehow make time stop. But then a bright light fell on them and a stern voice said, "Off the lady."

Steve lifted his head to squint up into the Beach Patrol spotlight. "I'm just kissing my girlfriend."

"Kiss her somewhere else, son."

Aislinn shaded her eyes with one hand. One swish of her hand and the Beach Patrol would no longer see them.

Her fingers twitched.

Steve sighed as he eased off her. "We were just going anyway."

Her hand fell back to the blanket beneath them as Steve stood to fold the other blanket. As Beach Patrol rolled off in their dune buggy, he said, "You'd think they caught us mid-fuck."