Loki was furious .

The little bitch had tattled to Stark, and now Loki had three idiot human chaperones instead of just the one.

He paced his quarters, too inflamed to sit quietly, circling the long couch and the woman who sat on it, veering off to pass along the windows on the south side of the room.

She'd shown up with two guards this morning. They stood on either side of the door in their matching black suits and their earpieces, watching expressionlessly.

Bella was ignoring him, fiddling with her cell phone. Pretending nothing had changed. If not for the guards, he never would have known she'd told. Her demeanor had revealed nothing since the moment she'd walked in.

In fact, she appeared entirely relaxed in her blue jeans and flowered, off-the-shoulder blouse, legs crossed at the knee. Her glossy chocolate hair had been trimmed recently and the short hairs at her nape were just long enough to start curling again. Looking at her--at the hair he now knew was even silkier than it looked, at the exposed curve of her neck, the taste of which was still vivid in his mind--made him feel itchy, almost violent.

He'd stopped pacing, he realized. He was standing by the windows directly across from the couch, staring at her. Finally, she looked up. He gave her a long, icy glare, drinking in her wide dark eyes, the heavy lashes. The smattering of freckles on her nose and upper cheeks. The full pink bow of her mouth.

One of her brows lifted slightly. "Something on your mind?"

The taste of your mouth , he thought viciously, and then watched her features twitch and flex in surprise--and then in discomfort.

She didn't blush though. And there wasn't even a flicker of anger in her steady gaze. For some reason that only increased his ire.

He turned and strolled towards the dining area of his quarters. "What's on the agenda today?"

"Same as always," she said, sounding bored.

It was the same conversation they had nearly every day, like a ritual. She was playing her part perfectly.

Are we pretending yesterday didn't happen? He glanced back at her as he paused next to the small dining table.

Her frown showed irritation. She glanced pointedly at the guards. "Your off-compound privileges have been temporarily revoked."

"Oh? What shame," he rallied mockingly, suppressing his bitterness. His restlessness.

She rolled her eyes and went back to her phone.

Loki paced some more, fuming silently. Three months they'd kept him a cell before Thor had convinced them to let him out. Another month of constant supervision--always Thor or one of the others at his elbow. Always the cameras and the suspicious gazes. And then they'd brought Bella--his psychic babysitter--and she'd been... an unexpected diversion. A breath of fresh air, if he was honest. Wide brown eyes full of curiosity and unexpected kindness--and utterly devoid of contempt, suspicion, disgust; the things he saw in the eyes of every other human he met.

She looked like a nursery school teacher but he'd learned quickly there was intellect behind that angelic little face. A delightful, sneaky sense of humor. A startling lack of judgment for the attempted conqueror of her own planet, her people.

She'd treated him for all the world like a friend.

Bits of her angry tirade in the car came back to him for the hundredth time.

I also honestly fucking like you.

I can't trust you... why did I even give you a chance?

...as much as I want you to be happy, if you ever fuck with me like that again...

Loki struggled not to growl aloud, bombarded by a mix of emotions he didn't care to examine too closely.

She' taken him into her home, and she'd let him kiss her, touch her. Perhaps she had been a diversion--she was only human after all. And perhaps he had taken advantage because it had been so long since he'd even had the chance to touch a woman, and he was starved for it--for any kind of real pleasure.

And she'd blushed so prettily at his teasing. Acted like she enjoyed his attention, as uncomfortable as it made her. So, when the opportunity had arisen to take a little pleasure in her, he'd jumped at it. Was that so deplorable? Did he deserve to be villainized for it?

He had to admit that he did like the little human. He liked her a great deal, as ridiculous as it was. He hadn't meant to abuse her in any way. That look she'd given him in the car--like he'd wounded her somehow...

Loki told himself it hadn't made him feel guilty--that it was nonsense on her part. Human idiocy. He hadn't done anything wrong. And he didn't give a damn how she felt about him. But now that she'd withdrawn her friendship he felt...viciously ill-used.

He felt positively vengeful, in fact.

Abruptly, Bella stood. She turned to the guards, "Will you please leave us for a moment?"

"Uh, Miss, are you sure?" said the one on the left. Loki had forgotten their names the moment Bella introduced them. He watched with icy disdain as Bella assured them she would be fine and ushered them out.

"There are still cameras," she said, as soon as she'd turned back to him.

"As if I could forget," he sneered.

"I'm sorry about the guards. Tony insisted."

"Oh, you're sorry. Well, in that case," he returned contemptuously.

"One of the guards reported our...little scene in the car yesterday, otherwise things would be just as they were. I had no intention of reporting it."

"Of course," he stalked toward her dangerously, "What would Tony think if he knew you'd willingly taken my tongue into your mouth?"

She actually flushed a little at the words. "He does know, Loki."

He froze, "What? You told him?"

She nodded.

"Why? "

"Because I'm honest?"

"What could have possessed you to do such an idiotic thing?" he snarled.

"You mean kiss you, or tell Tony the truth?" she rejoined wryly.

Loki glared.

"It wasn't any great crime," she went on helplessly, "He's not even mad about it. You just have to behave yourself with me for a couple more weeks and you'll be allowed to leave again."

The regret in her eyes was salt in his wounds.

"Only now we'll have a pair of Stark's suited goons along for the ride, is that it?" he spat.

"Just to make sure things stay...platonic."

Loki's eyes narrowed. He'd closed the space between them until they stood only a few feet apart. "Platonic," he repeated thoughtfully. "Is that for my sake or yours?"

"Both."

He stalked closer. "So, we both have to earn his trust again, hm?"

She watched him come with obvious anxiety. "I told him I'd learned my lesson," she said warily.

Loki halted less than an arm's length away and her scent curled around him delicately. "And he believed you?"

She swallowed loudly. "Loki--"

"Did you think the cameras would protect you? That I wouldn't touch you so long as some peon in a control room was watching?" He moved closer, until they were toe-to-toe. Bella was looking up at him with her eyes very wide, breasts hitching upward on a nervous breath.

"The guards are right outside," she whispered. "Don't screw this up for yourself just because you want to punish me, Loki."

"Punish you?" he murmured wickedly, "Who says I want to punish you?" His hands found her hips, slid up to her sweet little waist, making her gasp and grab his forearms as though to stop him.

"You're angry," she said breathlessly. "You want to hurt me."

The words stung--partially because they were true, and partially because hearing her say them made him feel bitterly ashamed of himself.

He picked her up and backed her to the wall, pinning her there with a thunk. Her little squeak of surprise urged him on and the in the next moment he was kissing her fiercely, angrily--almost desperately. She squirmed against him and it felt so damned good, even though she was trying to push him off.

Loki made himself soften, gave her his tongue in a slow, liquid glide, pressing her flat to the wall with the length of his body. She stiffened when she felt his erection, and then--sweet Allmother, thank you --the fight seemed to leave her and she went butter soft against him. Her little hands slid up his arms to his chest and then fisted in his jacket, pulling him closer.

That's it, he thought distantly, anger forgotten, drawing on her tongue and then groaning as she dipped it into his mouth, exploring him of her own volition. His hands glided up her sides and he took her breasts in a slow, sensuous grip, growling with pleasure at the sensation. She shuddered and whimpered sweetly into his mouth.

Behind him, the door burst open. "Alright, Reindeer Games, let her go."

Anger returning in a rush, Loki slowly released her. Just before turning he looked down into her face. Her eyes were wide with dread--but no anger. No judgment.

She was horrified. Afraid. But not of him. Not by him.

For him.

Loki turned slowly toward Stark and his guards, anger warring with a strange, unexpected rush of elation.

"Hello, Stark," he said mildly.

Stark gave Loki a disapproving look, lips pursed, and held his hand out to Bella. "Come here, sweetheart. Let's get you away from the big bad God."

Bella stepped out from behind Loki, "Mr. Stark, it was my fault. I shouldn't have sent the guards away."

"Oh, we can agree on that," Stark replied, hand still extended, eyes on Loki.

"He didn't hurt me," she said urgently, and Loki realized with a start that she was defending him.

"It looked pretty forceful to me, hon," Stark replied. His gaze shifted to her. "You were trying to fight him off, were you not?"

"I-- was," she replied haltingly, sheepishly. "At first. Right up until... I wasn't."

Loki glanced at her in surprise. Honest, indeed.

The two guards shared a brief look of shock. Stark sighed. "You sure this isn't like, some kind of Stockholm syndrome or something?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Loki saw her nod. "I guess I have a thing for bad boys," she laughed nervously.

Loki's heart did a shameful little dance of triumph.

Stark lowered his hand. "Well, I guess I can't hold that against you." He grinned at her in a way that made Loki's hackles rise. "I used to be a bit of a bad-boy myself. Though--" he shot Loki a considering look, "This guy is on a whole other level."

"You knew this was going to happen!" Bella blurted.

Stark grinned. "You reading my mind?" Then he shrugged. "I might have suspected something like this would occur."

"Why did you let her come back in then?" Loki demanded angrily.

Stark smirked, shook his head. "You still don't get it, do you Reindeer Games? You're one of ours now."

Loki scowled in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Stark held up a finger and then turned to the guards. "Fellas, dismissed."

They both blinked at him in surprise.

"Alright, come on, chop chop," Stark clapped his hands at them and they scurried out the door. "That's right, little privacy here, thank you."

The door clicked shut and he turned around, pointed directly at Loki, "You, my friend, have to get into the Avengers mentality. Teamwork, cooperation. Trust."

Loki looked at Bella and her expression reflected his bewilderment. "What the hell are you talking about, Stark?"

"I'm talking about your one-man-against-the-world-pity-party thing, Lo-lo."

Loki nearly choked. Lo-lo? Pity party? "My what? " he snarled in outrage.

"Are you in or are you out, man?" Tony returned impatiently. "You've behaved yourself perfectly for months, bad attitude notwithstanding. Your brother trusts you. Bella trusts you. I let you go off-compound yesterday with no armed escort and the worst thing you did was kiss a pretty girl. And when that blew up in your face, you still came back." He shrugged and made a face like, Well? "You gonna give up this serial-killer-slash-martyr act and be a good guy, or what?"

Loki was floored. Speechless.

"You're not upset at all?" Bella asked cautiously. "About the, erm, inappropriate behavior?"

"Hey, you're both consenting adults. And like I said, who am I to judge?" Tony grinned. "Besides, Rock of Ages over here falling for a good old-fashioned human girl seems like growth to me."

"Will you please stop with the nicknames," Loki grated.

"Not a chance," Tony came back without hesitation. "And don't think for a moment this means I'm cutting you two loose." He pointed at Bella, "You keep doing your job as specified, and you--" he pointed at Loki, "are now responsible for keeping her safe in the field."

Loki blurted, "I'm responsible for what? " at the same time Bella said, "In the field?"

"That's right, folks. You're partners now. Congratulations. Bella, you start field training next week," he turned and pulled the door open. "By the way, you have the rest of the week off. Go on a date or something. Eat spaghetti, see a movie. Enjoy your freedom. Starting Monday, it's no more lazy days at Stark Tower. We got shit to do and I need you both on point." He waved them off as he walked out, and the door swung shut behind him with a click.

..............................

It's Thursday, I thought dumbly. Three day weekend.

Then I looked at Loki. He was still staring blankly at the closed door. He must have felt me staring because he glanced over.

Suddenly my heart was in my throat, pounding like crazy. Tony had just given us his full approval to...what? Start a relationship?

I knew that was insane--just the thought of dating the God of Mischief made me want to giggle hysterically.

It also made me ache with longing. Stupidly.

Loki's eyes narrowed.

"W-what?" I stuttered, hating myself.

His lips compressed. Relaxed. He was shielding his thoughts, but his emotions were still in turmoil. Anger sizzled in the air around him. The regret was gone though.

That had been a revelation.

I'd come to work this morning tied in knots, wondering how he would behave. I knew he'd be angry about the guards. I'd kind of expected him to play it off though--to return to the condescending ice-prince routine. To treat me like nothing more than a mild irritation.

But he'd been tied in knots, too. Furious, guilty. And the longer I pretended nothing was wrong, the more inflamed he'd become, pacing around in a silent fit of rage. Radiating regret and frustration.

He was sorry. Or he had been.

Not that he would ever say so.

The God of Mischief cared about me. It was there in his feelings. The hurt he tried to drown out with anger. His desire to retaliate against me.

And of course, my determination to remain distant had crumbled in mere minutes. I still wanted to be his friend. I couldn't stand to see him in pain.

So I'd sent the guards out, hoping to talk him down. To mend fences.

I'd never expected him to come after me like that, radiating lust and danger.

I could still feel his big body against me--the searing heat of his erection stabbing my belly.

Gentle, coaxing Loki--while still a bit aggressive--had been intoxicating. Angry, forceful Loki had completely robbed me of my sense.

My legs were still trembling a little from it. My breasts tingled madly from his touch. My mouth felt swollen, lips hypersensitized. I wanted him to do it again--and at the same time, I was absolutely terrified that he would.

He was looking at me like he could read my mind, and I almost believed it.

"You have thirty seconds to get out of here," he growled, "before I finish what we started."

"Loki--" I began, backing away a step, "W-we should talk."

He bared his teeth in a predatory grin, totally devoid of humor. "Make it ten seconds."

Self-preservation beat out my desire to smooth things over. I turned and scurried for the door.

"Bella," he said, just as I took hold of the knob.

I looked back.

"Congratulations," his eyes glittered with unspoken promise, " Partner. "

**********
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