Jane Foster curled up with her best friend, Loki Odinson, on his couch and instantly felt better when he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close. With her head tucked under his chin, she felt safe and taken care of.
Subconsciously, she started playing with his paint spattered hand that had been resting on his belly. “I’m not going to make rent on my own, Loki,” she told him. “Now that Donald has packed up and left without so much as a note, there is no way I can make rent next week alone.”
“I never trusted that ass,” Loki told her.
“I know you didn’t like him.”
“Let me guess. You didn’t sleep with him so he decided to bail.”
Jane sighed. “No. Loki, it’s flattering, but not every man I come in contact with wants me.”
“Then what was it?”
“In his note he said he couldn’t afford his part of the rent.”
“Then why did he move in?!”
“That may or may not have been because he was attracted to me and thought I would have sex with him.”
Loki sighed. “There it is.”
“What am I going to do?” Jane asked softly. She wasn’t one to give into worry and hysterics, but she felt dangerously close to tears. She was just starting out in a new job from the bottom of the totem pole and wasn’t getting paid much. She’d found an apartment that was a little steep in rent and had decided to get a roommate to help with expenses. That roommate had now bailed.
“Move in here with me,” Loki suggested and started to run his hand up and down her back in a soothing motion.
“I am still going to have to pay rent. I can’t bail like Donald did like some thief in the night…or middle of the day.” Also, she wasn’t sure she could live with Loki. Not because she didn’t think they’d get along – of course they would. They were best friends.
Living with him would mean possibly seeing him bring dates home. Maybe seeing him in just a towel as he made his way to his bedroom from the bathroom. Living with Loki meant being in close proximity to the man she was desperately in love with and could never have. He didn’t date women like her. Women that wore sweatpants around the house and whose idea of a great breakfast was Pop Tarts. Loki was classy. Jane was a mess. Even messier now that she was probably going to have to starve to make rent until she found a new roommate.
“I’ll give you the money and then after you’ll move in with me.”
She laughed softly. “You sure you shouldn’t be a lawyer after all? You certainly don’t give much room for argument.”
He pinched her arm and she laughed. It had been a brave thing for Loki to go against his father’s wishes and become an artist rather than an attorney. Things were still tense between him and his father but they were getting slowly better.
Now he was a successful artist and had several gallery showings under his belt. She was proud to say she had an original Loki in her apartment.
“I don’t want you to give me the money, Loki,” she told him. “Then I would just owe you.”
“You would owe me nothing,” he told her and pinched her again.
“When I’ve exhausted all my resources I will then allow you to give me the money.”
He laughed. “Allow me, huh?”
“Yes. Now help me brainstorm. I figure I’ll start by digging out all the change under my seat in my car, and then the bottles—”
“You could pose for me.”
Jane stiffened. “What?”
“You could pose nude for me.”
She sat up and looked down at him. At her gorgeous best friend with his shoulder length black hair and sparkling green eyes that sparkled even more when he was being mischievous. She wanted to bite his nose. He was just so hot and adorable at the same time.
“Pose nude for you?” she managed to ask.
He nodded. “It would actually pay more than what you need.”
She licked her lips. Her mouth felt dry. She didn’t see how Loki watched the motion avidly. “I – don’t you think that would be weird?”
“I’m an artist, Jane. In that environment—”
“The environment being your studio where you work.”
“Correct. In that environment I see my work, not a naked woman.”
“But still. You would be seeing me. The naked woman.”
“I will not sexualize you, Jane.”
How bad did she need the money? What were her other options?
She needed $300 by next week. She had no other options. With a sigh she said, “Okay.”
xxxxxxxxxx
Loki, who usually prided himself on being confident (to the point of arrogance according to Jane), was nervous. So nervous he couldn’t stop dropping things as he prepared his studio for Jane to arrive.
Good thing the only thing he’d dropped was a drop cloth and the blanket he wanted her lay on. Oh, and then the glass of water for his brushes…
By the time Jane arrived he was a sweating, shaking mess. He loved this woman. Madly, deeply, truly loved her and he was going to paint her nude. While it was true that when he did nudes he didn’t see his subjects in that base way, he saw an object for his art. But with Jane? There was no way he would see anything but her naked body. He wasn’t going to be able to stop wanting her. He looked down at his skinny jeans.
Fuck.
He was thinking he should change when she knocked on his door.
He heaved a deep breath. I can do this, he thought.
She looked about as nervous as he felt. Worse, actually. She was fidgeting and biting her lip. He calmed himself in order to calm her.
“Jane, please don’t be self-conscious. I am an artist—”
“Yeah, I’ve heard the song and dance before, Renoir.”
He chuckled and led her to his studio. “Do you want me to leave the room while you undress?”
“Yeah, could you get me a shot of whatever hard liquor you’ve got?”
He nodded. “Of course.”
“Two!” she called after him. “Two shots!”
When he left, Jane heaved a deep breath, told herself to suck it up, and undressed. She then grabbed the afghan on the couch behind her and wrapped herself in it. Loki came back and stopped in the doorway when he saw her wrapped up. She thought she saw him gulp.
He then strode forward and handed her a glass. “Tequila.”
“Thanks.” She knocked it back, wincing as it blazed a path to her belly.
“Chaser! Chaser!” she exclaimed.
He handed her a Coke from the nearby end table. It was cold. He knew her well. She took a few sips of it and then smiled and handed it to him. “So, how do we do this?”
“Well, I want you to put the afghan on the couch and then lay across it. Is it warm enough in here for you?”
“I don’t feel anything.”
“Jane, relax.”
“Telling me to relax isn’t going to make me relax.”
“What can I do?”
“Go to your canvas and let me do this.”
“Okay.”
He turned, she dropped the afghan, laid it out on the couch and then laid down on it. All the while she held her breath. When Loki turned to her he froze. “Uh…”
She let out her breath in a gush. “ ‘Uh’ what? Do you need me to move?”
“Uh, yes. Um, can you lie down as if you’ve just fallen into a swoon?”
“Really?”
He shot her a look. “Are you going to criticize what I choose to paint?”
“Maybe.”
“Jane…”
“I’m just nervous!”
“So you’ve chosen to argue with me?”
“Don’t judge.”
“Ditto.”
She stuck her tongue out at him and posed. “How’s this?”
It was perfect. Everything about her was perfect. From the tips of her dark brown hair to her red painted toes. She was gorgeous. She had curves. Her breasts were full. Utter perfection.
His dick was hard. It was a good thing he was behind his canvas.
There was one part of his brain that was already going into artist mode and there was the other part that was unable to stop gazing at his beloved and wanting her. Badly.
He began to work, sketching her first. His erection went away slowly.
Not liking quite how she was laying down, he went over to her and without a word moved her leg at an angle. Good Christ, her legs were like silk. He moved her arms up and to the side and her breasts jutted out. His mouth went dry. His gaze trailed to her core. She was shaved.
His gaze traveled slowly along her body. She had goosebumps. She was trembling. When he looked at her face he found her watching him intently. His dick went hard again.
“Jane,” he whispered.
Her arm flung out and grabbed his shirt front and pulled him down to her. She kissed him hungrily.
Loki broke the kiss, panting. His head was spinning.
“If you hated that then I’m blaming the tequila,” she told him.
“And if I liked it?”
“Then kiss me again.”
He did. Again and again and again. Until he didn’t remember climbing on top of her. Or how his clothes were taken off. He stopped when he was poised to take her, his dick at her entrance. He looked at her and she nodded.
“I want you to understand,” he said, “That if we do this, there is no going back.”
“No?”
“No. If we do this, you will be mine, Jane. I don’t want to just have sex with you. I love you. I want you for my own.”
She smiled broadly. “I love you, too, Loki.”
His eyes went wide. “You do?”
She nodded. “For a long time now.”
“Me too,” he said and thrust himself inside her. They shared a groan. He met her eyes. “Mine,” he said possessively.
She nodded and slid her hands down over his ass. “Yours.”
Loki made her cum twice before he let go inside her (she was on the pill). They lay together, sweaty and sated on the couch.
“Loki?”
“Hmmm….?”
“This is what you should draw. Us.”
He smiled against her neck. “Brilliant idea. I’ll call it ‘The Lovers’.”
She climbed on top of him and straddled him. “I think I might still need to move in.”
He nodded. “Oh yes. You know, I think it will be good for my art.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, because I forsee me doing lots of nudes in the future….”
She grinned and kissed him, and it started all over again.