Chapter 10
By: MysticFantasy
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Steve felt himself come onto the line between awake and still asleep. His sleep fogged mind was telling him to go back to sleep and he would have done so had something not moved against him.
Growing a little more awake but still not totally conscious, Steve himself shifted a little and realized his arms were wrapped around something. Something small but warm.
His heart nearly skipped a beat as he recalled the events of the night and knew what his arms were around.
Keeping his body calm and his breathing even, the soldier cracked open his eyes and was face to face with a mane of blond hair. At first it took him a few seconds to remember that Natasha had colored her hair for the mission.
Her back was pressed against chest, the rest of her body fitting perfectly against him and his arms were wrapped around her waist. The scent of her shampoo filled his nose and he could practically feel her pulse under his fingers.
It wasn't until now that he noticed how soft her skin is and it made him wonder how she was able to keep up with things like that when they were constantly out trying to save the world.
He figured it might be one of those many female secrets that Tony and Clint were constantly telling him about. Something about how only the women were able to go through certain chaotic things and somehow be able to not have a single hair out of place.
Steve wasn't too sure about what he'd been told from his two friends but he could recall a mission that he and Natasha had been on before.
It had been a usual gun and fist fight and when it was over he remembered Natasha walking away looking as fresh as a daisy while he looked like he had somehow been reverted back to his former appearance and had been dragged into an alley again.
The soldier just figured it might be a woman thing.
Steve gazed at Natasha's sleeping face. He had never seen her so relaxed before. Because of their jobs with SHIELD, they were constantly on guard and on missions with only three weeks to a month of rest time in between. To most it felt like a lot of time but for the Avengers it was something similiar to a week long vacation.
It was nice to be able to see her relaxed although he was pretty sure that she was still on guard deep down. She seemed like the kind to not let her guard down no matter who was around.
He felt that she deserved some time where she could be able to completly let her guard down. How to do that was the question though and he knew that she wouldn't easily agree to it.
I'll figure something out. Steve told himself. Right now, I guess she looks relaxed enough. I just wish she was able to be like that a little more.
Lightly smiling at her peace, Steve decided that he could do with a little more sleep. It was about the only time that he could blame a mission for his choice to sleep in and the others be none the wiser.
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Natasha lightly sighed as she began to stir from her sleep. Being a highly trained agent, she stopped movement when she felt something around her waist.
Cracking her eyes open and being as still as possible, she spotted muscular arms and everything came back to her in a rush. Her mission in Paris, Steve pretending to be her husband, sleeping in the same bed together...
The now blond spy did her best not to react when she felt Steve's warm breath on her exposed neck. His breathing was even which told her he was still asleep and probably unaware of the position they were in.
She was slightly glad for that since he was still a little hesitant about being so close to a woman. And they were pretty close right now. She could lightly feel his heart beat against her back.
What distracted her most about this situation was the warmth and comfort she was feeling from him.
Never before had she felt these things from a man she had to share a bed with. She had always felt disgust, hatred, cold...Too many things to recall. Too many missions where she's had to enchant her target with her looks to get what she needed.
But this was the first time she could recall ever being in a bed with a man and feeling...so...relaxed.
Was it just because this was Steve she was with? Captain America. The man who was the most trustworthy man on the face of the Earth and believed a woman should be treated like a princess.
Was she feeling so at ease because she was with a man who had somehow earned the trust of the Black Widow? Because he's her friend and she knows that he'll protect her if the need ever came up?
Or...was it something else?