"Let me help you." Bucky pressed up against her back and reached his arms through hers, spooning two measures of sugar and stirring it in her hot coffee before adding cream to top it off. When he finished, his hands pressed hers around the coffee cup while his kiss was pressed behind her ear.
"I like this kind of good morning." Lark sighed, melting into him before carefully bringing her cup up to drink from.
A very soft moan told him he'd made it just right, and he smiled against her neck. "You know, I could give you a better 'good morning' than that…"
"If it involves waking up beside me…" The woman turned around in his grasp, leaving her pinned between him and the counter as James leaned in to nuzzle her wild curls, making encouraging noises. "… And being in any way intimate…" Another noise of approval from him. "… Without an acceptable amount of clothing on." He was practically purring now, and she felt him nod. Lark took her time with one more sip of coffee before guiding his face with her free hand to meet hers, a tender, lingering kiss awaiting him there at her lips. Smiling as they parted, her eyes still closed, Lark dragged her thumb over his lip and kissed him briefly again. "Then, no."
Bucky paused. "No?"
"No." Lark wove out of his grasp, gracefully keeping her coffee balanced as she stepped to look out the window over the sink innocently. "That's the kind of 'good morning' I want from my husband." With eyes alight, she teased him as she took another drink from the steaming cup. "And my name isn't 'Mrs. Barnes.'"
She didn't know what to think of the look James gave her for a moment as he stood there. Something evidently clicked, and in the next moment Lark was delighted to see something else kindled there that could likely be labeled a hybrid between adoration and predatory. It sent a thrill straight through her, and Lark squealed as her beau leapt to action and made to catch her. "James Buchanan Barnes, if you make me spill this coffee I'll—!" Laughing as she dodged him, only to be caught by the waist at another turn, Lark shrieked playfully and he pulled her against him with strong arms.
"You'll what?" Mocking her lightly, Bucky's smile was a cocky, old-fashioned thing that made her feel like a blushing pre-teen.
"I'll cry, that's what. And look! You did make me spill." Her hand was dripping with some of the sloshed beverage and she held it precariously.
"Aw, doll, don't cry." The smirk stayed on his mouth, and Lark couldn't tear her eyes away when he took the coffee cup to set aside and brought her hand up to lick the underside deliberately. Laying a kiss on her palm for good measure, Bucky's eyes were heavy-lidded as he sat back on a bar stool and pulled her against him. "I like the sound of Lark Elizabeth Barnes." He murmured, slowly running his hands up her sides and down to the small of her back.
"So do I." Lark answered softly, looking over the man whose eyes made such promises every time they met hers, as though their gazes were always in conversation, whether they were or not. She stroked her hand up his neck and into the hair at his neck that had been growing longer lately, giving him a bed head Lark wouldn't mind waking up to every morning. A lie would be saying she hadn't thought of it often, being James' wife and settling down, maybe starting a family. In many ways she was ready, and so was he. "I love you, James." She whispered quietly, leaning into him and kissing his lips in an unhurried display to back up her words. "When you decide it's time to ask me that, I'll be ready for you." Spoken against his lips, Lark hoped her meaning had come off as she intended. Yes, but not yet.
James' response was to kiss her again, and more fervently, tasting the coffee on her tongue and breathing in the scent of her skin and hair. "You mean everything to me, Lark." The sounding 'wrr' of his arm was a comfort as it wrapped fully around her in an embrace, leaving Bucky's mouth close to her ear as he spoke.
Something in his sigh brought Lark's attention to it, there was something he wasn't telling her. "James? What is it?" She laid her hand on his chest and the gentle pressure was enough to part them so she could see his face. "Did Steve call?" There was no annoyance or anything but concern in her tone.
James lifted his head reluctantly and winced. "I'll meet him tomorrow and he's picking me up for another assignment." Guilt filled him when he watched Lark's face wilt a little in disappointment, unable to hide it from him even when she tried.
"Oh." She rubbed a piece of his t-shirt between her fingers absently, asking if she needed to help him pack anything.
He shook his head. "They've got any gear I'll need." Bucky watched her try to muster a smile for him and silently cursed his loyalty to Captain America. "I'm sorry, Lark. I was going to tell you tonight, so we could enjoy today…"
"It's okay, baby. You know I just worry." Lark found her place nestled into his neck and shoulder and let him hold her close. "James, be careful for me."
Bucky squeezed her tighter and pressed his lips to her hair. "I will. You know I want to come home to a Mrs. Barnes one day." Lark simply kissed his neck.