They were all gathered around the main common room, bottles of alcohol open as they celebrated Tony's birthday. He'd flat out insisted that everyone, including James, join in, and he found himself sitting in a circle with a glass of Scotch laughing and joking with the rest of them. He looked across the room and felt his heart flutter at the sight of Ella with a glass of wine, cheeks tinted pink from the alcohol as she rested her hand on Bruce's arm and laughed loudly at a story her sister was telling about how he'd demolished Tony in some contest they'd had between Iron Man and the Hulk.
She was so fucking beautiful it hurt.
Tony started to shout, startling him away and he watched with amusement as he summoned everyone over to lounge in a circle around the several couches and chairs where he sat now. Ella refilled her glass, and as she picked her way over she scanned for an open seat, eyes suddenly meeting his. Most places were already taken, so with a smirk and a jerk of his head, he motioned for her to come over to him.
She strolled up to him, casually holding her very full glass of wine as she tilted her head. "Yes, James?"
Her voice was sultry and smooth, and he felt his cock twitch at the sound. He patted his thigh with his metal hand. "Have a seat, doll." His smirk widened when he saw the heat flash in her gaze before she primly turned and sat on the arm of his chair, next to where he'd patted his lap. He shrugged, watching her with amusement. "Suit yourself." He brought his metal hand up slowly to rest on the small of her back, thumb grazing the slip of skin showing where her silk top split at the top of her jeans to flow around her. He hummed in delight when he saw the goose bumps raise along her arms in response, and he watched as she shifted in her seat and deliberately kept her face turned away from him and toward the group.
"Well, what are we playing, Tony?" She called across the room, ignoring the delicious feel of the metal fingers teasing across the small of her back.
"How about, Never have I ever?"
She felt James shift beside her in his seat, and she reached down to absentmindedly stroke his knee as she tilted her head. "Care to explain the game?"
Tony's sly smile made her nervous as he explained that they would each take turns saying things they've never done, and if you'd done what someone said you had to take a sip of your drink.
"I'm not so sure that's-" She was going to politely decline, before James jumped in beside her.
"I'm in."
She turned suddenly to look back at him with confusion. He just shrugged, thumb continuing to play on her back. "Maybe it'll spark something. If I can't remember then I'll just take a drink anyways or skip it."
She bit her lip before nodding reluctantly. She had a bad feeling about where this game was going to go.
"I can tell you if you've done it or not, Buck," Steve called across the room.
She felt the muscles under her hand tighten in response, and his thumb had gone still above the waistband of her jeans. She felt anger start to pulse into her, and quickly slid down off the arm chair to sit on his massive thigh, bringing her hand to rest back on his chest. "How about, if you want to ask Steve you can, otherwise you just play along as you want to?"
She turned to look back and saw the gray fade out and the blue brighten once again. He was in control. He nodded once before giving her a tiny smile. He was okay.
She leaned and bumped her shoulder against his chest before turning in his lap to face the group, and she felt him bring his metal hand to rest on her hip. "Who's first?"
"I'll go, I'll go! It's my birthday!" Tony whined from her left. She saw Nat roll her eyes as she called for him to go on then.
"Never have I ever been a super soldier."
She snorted and turned to see James shake his head and roll his eyes as he took a drink. She tilted her head in thought as he gently squeezed her hip. When she turned, she saw a spark in his eyes and nodded for him to continue.
"Never have I ever flown in a tin can," he rumbled with a smirk, and she smiled wide as she heard Tony grumble and take a swig while he complained that his suit wasn't even made from tin and it was high-tech and all that.
"You're turn, Ella," Tony nodded for her to go.
She bit her lip, eyes scanning around the room. "Ummm… I don't know. Never have I ever… been on a cruise."
"Borrringgg," Tony rolled his eyes as he took another swig, and she saw Nat, Clint and Sam take one as well.
They game continued, and as these games always do it got racier and racier as they got tipsier and tipsier.
It was Tony's turn again, and he was looking at her shrewdly as he raised his glass. "Never have I ever kissed a super soldier."
She flushed crimson but raised he eyebrows at him, before turning in surprise to see Nat take a sip and wink over at Steve, who was redder than a tomato. She laughed in surprise, "Seriously?!"
"It was part of a mission," he grumbled, shifting in his seat and keeping his eyes on his glass.
The big metal hand wrapped around her hip squeezed again, and she shifted on his thigh to look over her shoulder at him. "Never have I ever kissed a guy."
She huffed and rolled her eyes, smiling as she took a sip and saw both Nat and Sam take a sip. "What, I was curious?!" He huffed with a smile, and she giggled as she settled back in James' lap.
"Hmm… Never have I ever had a threesome," she said slyly, laughing as Tony shot her a stunned expression and mumbled about how he didn't know how anyone could live without experiencing it. She shrugged with amusement and watched Nat and Clint take sips, before seeing Steve grin widely at James. "Drink up, man."
Her jaw dropped as she turned in her seat to look at James, and he smiled widely as he took a drink. "Wish I could remember that," he teased as she narrowed her eyes and tried to bite back her smile.
Sam looked around before shooting everyone a sly smile. "Never have I ever had sex in a public space."
Ella felt her cheeks heat as she took a sip of wine, giggling when she felt James pinch her hip in surprise. He leaned up behind her, and she felt the hard planes of his chest press into her back as he placed his lips right behind her ear. "Naughty girl," he rumbled deeply, sending shivers down to pool low in her belly in arousal.
She giggled and wiggled in his lap, refusing to turn her head towards him while he leaned back in his chair, metal hand now resting on the upper curve of her ass.
Clint tilted his head and turned to look straight at Nat. "Never have I ever had sex on a plane."
Ella giggled as she saw Nat, Sam, Tony and even Steve take swigs of their drinks, before turning to look at James with eyebrows raised as he tilted his head in question at Steve.
He laughed, smiling wide. "Drink again, Buck." He was raising his glass to his lips when his gaze hardened and he froze, body tighter than a bow, metal hand digging into her hip while his flesh hand tightened around the glass.
"Steve," she called over her shoulder, voice hard in warning. "Stop calling him that."
He just snorted, shaking his head. "No! It's his name! You go around acting like you know him, like you know what he likes and he doesn't, but you don't know anything about him!"
The glass in James' hand shattered, splintering into a thousand tiny pieces as he crushed it in his fist. She turned in his lap suddenly, setting her glass down on the side table before gently taking hold of his scruffy cheeks in her hands. He tried to turn his head away but she held on, leaning down to meet his eyes. "Look at me, James," she whispered softly, bringing his eyes up to hers. "How about we go back to our room and get your hand cleaned up?"
She watched him bite the inside of his lip before turning to look at his hand. Blood was trickling down out of his curled fingers, dripping down to pool on the hardwood floor. He nodded, long hair drifting down to cover his face as she stood up and reached down, taking a hold of his metal hand between both of hers and leading him to the door. "Goodnight, and happy birthday, Tony," she called over her shoulder as they made their way out of the door and down the hall to the elevator.
He kept his balled fist close to his chest as he let her lead them into their room and towards their bathroom. She gently pushed him to sit against the counter while she took hold of his injured hand and cradled it in front of her. She pried his fingers open and gasped at the little slivers of glass poking out of his flesh. "Oh, James," she sighed softly, before turning to pick up a wash cloth and starting to run the faucet.
He shrugged uncomfortably, shifting his broad shoulders. "It doesn't hurt much," he mumbled, voice low.
She smiled wryly as she gently started to pull the wash clothe over his palm, working out slivers of glass. "I know when you're lying, James. I can literally feel glass digging into my own palm."
He snorted, and she felt some of the anger melt out of him as she gently rinsed away the last of the glass. "You don't need stitches, but I want to put some antiseptic on it and wrap it in a bandage for tonight."
He shrugged again, tilting his head to watch her as she pulled things out of a first aid kit she'd gotten from under the counter. "You don't need to do that, it'll be mostly healed by the morning."
She pressed her lips and shot him a playful glare. "Who said I was doing it for you? It makes me feel better."
She was carefully wrapping his hand in the bandage, and his heart squeezed with how gently she treated him, like he was something precious she was afraid of breaking, afraid of losing. He brought his metal hand up to ghost his fingers across her cheek, brushing the hair out of her eyes. "Okay, doll," he said softly.
She tucked in the last of the bandage before once again cradling his hand in both of hers. She traced a finger over the bandages on his palm before slowly bringing his hand up to her face. She felt her heart pound as she leaned and pressed a kiss into the palm of his hand. "Better?" She whispered, tilting her head to look at him.
His eyes were dark as he watched her, and she felt heat roll over her. "Better," he agreed, voice thick and husky.
She bit her lip before dropping his hand and stepping back away from the counter. "Okay then… Goodnight, James," she said softly, turning to go back towards her room.
His metal hand snaked out to wrap around her thin wrist and pull her lightly back towards him. He stood from the counter, towering over her as he raised his bandaged palm up to tenderly cup her face. Her breathing became ragged and her pulse quickened as she watched him with wide eyes while he slowly brought his head down towards hers. Her eyes drifted shut and she turned her head up in response.
After a few seconds, she felt his soft lips press gently against her cheek, before he was pulling away and leaning forward to whisper into her ear, breath fluttering the hair as he breathed. "Goodnight, Ella," he whispered back huskily, before pulling away suddenly and turning on his heal to leave the bathroom and shut the door to his room.
She gripped the counter tightly as she took a few deep breaths and tried to slow her heart. She swallowed hard and chuckled a bit as she saw her hands shake in the mirror.
There were a lot of things Ella regretted in life, plenty of decisions she'd made that she later wished she could take back.
Bonding with James Buchanan Barnes was not one of them.
