Steve swallowed hard. What had gotten into Emily tonight?

It had been terrifying to watch the steel beam drop on her earlier. He'd just known in his heart, even as he ran in her direction with Bucky on his heels, that she wouldn't survive, that he had lost her. When she'd been okay, when they'd suspected maybe there was some force field around her, it had helped calm his nerves. A little. He'd still, for the rest of the evening, grappled with the thought that he could have easily lost her, another precious part of his life he'd come to love.

Love?

Steve did love her. Because of that fear of loss, he was almost afraid to admit that, even to himself.

When he'd joined her in her apartment, walked in on her wearing nothing but a pair of sky blue panties – and they were sheer – he'd just about lost control of the situation. He'd apologized for walking in on her, went to sit on her couch until she was dressed.

But she didn't dress. Emily had walked right out there into the living room, still only wearing those little blue panties, to have a conversation with him. Steve was a patient man but even he had limits.

Taking a couple of steps closer, she stopped right in front of him. He was still leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. She was within his reach now. All he had to do was extend his arm and snatch that little sheer garment right off her and…

He looked up to see Emily was smirking at him and in that moment, he was so glad she couldn't read minds as Marley could. Considering what he was envisioning at that moment, she'd probably run from him and lock herself in her bedroom.

"You want me to get dressed?" Emily's tone had a note of challenge in it.

No.

"If you expect me to be able to converse intelligently with you? Yes," Steve couldn't keep the amusement from his voice.

"What if I'm done talking?" Emily wanted to know.

"What did you want to do?" Steve sat back on the couch, proud of himself for that counter. He was getting better at this.

"Hmmm," Emily hummed playfully. "I guess I need to think about that. I could go to bed and rest. I have had quite an interesting day."

Steve sucked in his breath when she planted one knee next to his hip, straddling his lap to plant her other knee on the other side. Gently, she sank down on his legs, planting her small hands on his chest. He fought to keep himself still but he was shaking – and oh, was he losing this battle.

Emily watched as his gaze drifted over every inch of her curvy little body and it really didn't help him in that moment to know just how she tasted. He could smell her arousal, the sweet, thick scent of her excitement made his mouth water. That had his gaze lowering to those panties again and the site of the wetness soaking that thin, sheer material between her creamy thighs had him rock hard in seconds.

"Or we could do other things," Emily said with a way too innocent smile to be sitting in his lap practically naked.

Then she laughed, and Steve melted, the sound disarming him, causing the desire to deepen into a rich blend of lust and love. He loved that sound, wanted to hear more of it.

"Help a girl out, Steve," Emily said in a teasing tone, but he didn't miss the slight tremble of her hand as it smoothed up his chest. "I always end up feeling like I'm defiling America's hero or something. Do you want to do other things?"

If only she knew how hard it was for him to allow her to torture him as she did. It wasn't lost on Steve how easily he could hurt her if he wasn't extremely careful. The last thing he wanted was to give in to his lust, his baser instincts, and end up harming her as a result.

He cupped the side of her face with one hand, staring into her beautiful green eyes and smiling. His Emily truly was beautiful. She trusted him. Wanted him. The baby had arrived safely, and she certainly looked healed from giving birth.

"Sweetheart, you assume because I'm not willing to risk your safety that it means I don't want you, but you couldn't be more wrong," he said quietly. "You drive me insane."

The wide, beautiful smile and blush that earned him had his heart hammering in his chest.

"Did Helen clear you for…"

"She didn't say I couldn't," Emily explained.

"Emily," he said impatiently.

"She knows we're together," Emily reasoned. "Surely if there were anything to worry about it would have been mentioned."

Oh, he wanted that to be true. Still, he worried.

"Come on, please?" Emily begged, her pretty eyes searching his face.

When she leaned closer, pressing her lips to the side of his neck, he blew out an exhale. She trailed the softest chain of kisses up to his ear, over his jaw, until she reached his mouth. And he was okay, hanging on.

Until her lips claimed his…

When Emily deepened the kiss, teasing his tongue with her own, Steve lost it. Willing himself to be careful, but unable to resist any longer, his hands slid over her hips, pulling her against him hard. Emily moaned into his mouth when he pumped his erection up into the soft, wetness of her mound and it was all he could do not to come right then and there.

Emily's hands were frenzied on him, plucking at the buttons on his shirt and pulling it free of his slacks. Frantically, she stripped him of it, practically tore off his undershirt while dazzling him with kisses that nearly left him breathless.

She sank to the floor between his legs before he could stop her. He fought to breathe as her small hands undid his belt and his slacks in record time. The way she pulled at his slacks, his boxers with them, told him she'd accept no refusal. Steve struggled to control himself, lifting his hips so she could pull his pants down and free his erection.

"Emily," he hissed when she began working him with her hands and mouth.

Steve wasn't going to last long, he knew that, but then it occurred to him to just allow it, to let her bring him off. Then things could slow down a little, give him better control with the edge off.

Burying his hands in the dark, satiny curls of her hair, Steve held on as brought him to the edge and kept him there until he couldn't fight her anymore. While he didn't want to know where she'd learned how to destroy him like that, he was so grateful she could.

"Emily… I'm…"

Emily hummed around it and that was all it took. Again, it amazed him how she swallowed him down considering his size. She continued to work him through it while his world went white, and he fought to control his own movements even with all that pleasure coursing through him.

When her hands gentled and her lips pressed softly to the inside of his thigh, Steve smiled down at her beautiful flushed face, enjoying how that flush extended down over her shoulders and chest.

What struck him most, and he'd give anything to be able to capture how she looked at that very moment on his sketch pad, was how happy she looked. Emily hadn't loved him so he'd return the favor, or tried to use him to get herself off. Emily truly enjoyed making him feel good, making him happy. Steve knew if he'd told her he was ready to go to sleep, she would be just fine with that and happily cuddle with him.

Oh, Steve was very far from done with her tonight. She had no idea. And she started it.

"Let's go to bed," he told her when he'd recovered, smiling. "As you said, you've had an interesting day."

Just as he thought, she nodded happily and slowly rose to her feet before him, contented with the pleasure she'd given him.

He pulled himself free of the shirts, his slacks and boxers while she stared, her beautiful blush deepening as she took in his cock which was already beginning to stir again.

And then, because he could, he clutched the front of those panties – he couldn't take it anymore – and pulled them off, the small ripping sound seeming loud in the silence around them. Her mouth dropped open when he tossed what was left of them to the floor.

"Oh, we're not going to sleep, sweetheart," he said, grinning. "I'm just getting started."

Her expression was a blend of shock and desire as he rose from the couch, lowered his shoulder and threw her over it. Her startled squeal had him laughing as he headed straight for her bedroom, tossing her onto the bed not as gently as he probably should have.

Emily used her elbows to help back herself towards the headboard. He was on her before she could move, crawling over her and hauling her up until her head hit the pillows. Steve allowed just enough of his weight to pin her to the bed, just to see how she'd react.

Steve wasn't disappointed in her reaction. Her eyes darkened and her breath came fast. Now he was completely hard again, and he ground himself into the pocket between her soft thighs for good measure.

"Now," Steve said, teasing the place where her shoulder and neck met with his mouth and tongue, "what other things were you wanting to do?"

Her slender arms wrapped around him, grabbed for him. Her legs parted easily when he situated his hips between them and he hissed as his cock brushed up against the slick, bare lips of her pussy. She was so hot and wet that it was all he could do not to fall on her like a beast and start rutting.

No, his girl deserved better than that. Desire still clouded his mind, but he could work through it now, give her what she wanted. What he wanted.

"Steve, yes," Emily's hands found and sank into his hair, clutching tightly and pulling in a way he felt all the way to his cock and he groaned.

"You didn't answer me," Steve teased, his lips trailing over her shoulder, down to her breast. Palming her left breast, he smiled as she arched up, pressing herself into his hand. "What other things did you want to do?"

When he pulled her nipple between his lips and began to suck on it lightly, teasingly, Emily started gasping, pumping her hips up to rub against him. Steve took his time, enjoying the slow way she was coming alive beneath him and trying to restrict her movements, wanting her to drown in her own want.

"I want to hear you say it, Emily." Grinning at her, he trailed kisses to the other breast and started all over again while she cried out beneath him. When she didn't try to answer, her eyes tightly shut, he decided he wasn't having it. His hand slid down and between her thighs, his fingers gentle but his touch wasn't slow, working her into a frenzy but giving her no real friction to ease the ache.

"Want you, Steve," she managed above him, gasping.

Moving back up to loom over her, Steve smiled, loving that he could do this to her.

"Open your eyes," he commanded, and she did, startled to realize he was so close. "Talk to me. Tell what you wanted to do… or I'll stop."

The desire in those beautiful green eyes had his confidence going into overdrive.

"I want…"

"I'm listening," Steve said teasingly.

"I want you…"

"I get that, sweetheart." He teased her shoulder with his lips, tongue, learning more by the second about what drove her wild. "Is this what you wanted? Or did you want more?"

"More," Emily said on an exhale. "More… please."

Steve hummed happily. "That's more like it. I love a girl with good manners, who knows how to ask nicely for what she wants."

Claiming her mouth with his, he let his tongue twine with hers as he slid a finger into her, exploring her gently.

"Is that what you wanted?" he asked, moving to tease the shell of her ear with his tongue.

"Yes." Emily cried out when he slid the second finger in. She was absolutely soaked, and he loved that more than he could say, but she was so tight. He needed her a little more stretched open for him. Steve knew it had been a long time for her coupled with Helen's healing of her body. "Yes, please."

"You like begging me?"

Emily's teeth caught her lower lip, she nodded eagerly.

"You want me to make you come?"

"Please…" the word dissolved into a cry as he slid in a third finger, working her tenderly but still not allowing her any friction. When his fingers brushed one particular spot, he felt her tightening around his hand, grateful now for all of Bucky's explanations of female anatomy when they were young men in Brooklyn.

"How do you want to come, Emily?" Steve asked as if they were having any other conversation. "Any preferences?"

Now she shook her head, fighting to keep her eyes open and on him. "No, whatever you w-want, Steve."

"Whatever I want?"

He huffed out a laugh as she enthusiastically nodded.

"Be careful what you wish for," he whispered against her lips.

Then, ever so slightly, he brushed against the spot he'd found inside her again.

Crying out, Emily clutched at his arms, twisted beneath him. The second time he brushed against it, her back arched, her eyes widened and locked with his.

And then he stroked over it until she came screaming, writhing beneath him with little room to move as he worked to make her orgasm last as long as he could. Emily was a trembling mess when he slid his hand free, her eyes tightly closed as she struggled to breathe.

Those green eyes opened just as he licked the taste of her off his fingers and she moaned at the sight. She liked that, did she?

Moving towards the foot of the bed, Steve wrapped his arms around her thighs, pulling them wide. The hold he had on her pretty much immobilized her legs and lower body.

"Steve?" Emily's eyes followed his movements, that delicious blush spreading from her face and throat to her breasts.

When he was where he wanted to be, he winked at her. "You'd better hang on, sweetheart."

He buried his face in her center, grateful for the fact that her lower lips were bare. Running his tongue from her entrance to tease her clit and back again, Steve hung onto her as she arched her back, struggled in his grip, and let out a chorus of gasps, moans, and cries he could listen to for hours.

When he started teasing patterns over her swollen clit, her hands sank into his hair and she was holding on, drawing a moan from him that he knew she felt in all the right places. He used the flat of his tongue over that swollen little button, he thrust it into her channel like a cock. He devastated her with his mouth, almost disappointed with how quickly he was able to build her back up again.

When she came the second time, oh, she'd blistered his ears with that scream and he just knew Bucky would be asking him about that tomorrow. Steve didn't care. He held onto his girl, held her down, as waves of pleasure pulled her into a fevered delirium.

Pulling himself up the bed, he stretched out beside her as she came back to the world, tracing his fingers delicately over all that heated, creamy skin. Her eyes slowly opened, searched until they found his. Her smile was beautiful, satisfied.

Or so he thought.

She pulled him down for a kiss, her tongue dancing with his as her hands smoothed over his torso, started moving down. He hissed when one slender hand found him, began working him gently.

"You ready to take my cock?" Steve broke the kiss to ask.

Rolling towards him, she slid one leg up over hers, opening herself to him.

Okay, then.

He rolled them until she was pressed onto her back and he settled in above her, lining himself up with her warm, wet heat. Pressing the tip of himself at her entrance he stopped, waiting until he caught her guess.

"Emily," Steve huffed out, "I need you to tell me if anything hurts, okay? I need you to promise me."

Her green eyes were filled with so much emotion. He'd always hoped a girl would look at him like that one day, the way Peggy would look at him as if he truly were her hero.

Slowly she nodded. "Promise."

"Are we good on birth control here or do I need something?" he asked awkwardly.

"We're good," Emily told him. "Helen gave me an injection. It's supposed to last for a year."

Steve held her gaze as he pushed forward, into her. Oh, he'd known she would be tight. But as he felt her flesh give way as he slowly inched inside her, he had to wonder if this were anything like deflowering a virgin. He couldn't imagine that would be any tighter.

Every few seconds, he stopped, dropping kisses on her face, her mouth. Checking for any signs of distress. Emily gasped when he finally bottomed out and his heart clenched.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, worried that if he were hurting her, she wouldn't tell him.

Emily swallowed hard, hanging onto him tightly. "Just… just give me a minute."

It was the best kind of heaven being buried in that tight, wet heat, and it was the worst sort of hell to stay still. But for her, he could do it.

Emily rolled her hips slightly and a moan tore from his throat at how good she felt. When he saw no signs of pain in her expression, she did it again.

"I think I'm okay," Emily whispered, leaning up to press a kiss to his mouth.

Steve kept kissing her, tasting her lips as he slowly pulled back and just as carefully thrust back in. Keeping his movements slow, he moved with careful even thrusts and was happy to watch as she started to come apart beneath him.

"Feels so good," Emily whispered, her hands in his hair, over his back, clutching at his ass.

Gradually, he sped up, monitoring her as he did but she was losing control, her channel starting to tighten even more around him and he was getting close too. Within moments, Steve knew he was probably going harder and faster than he should, but she seemed to love it. If her breathing and the grooves her nails were carving into his back were any indication, she was almost there and he needed her to come so badly.

Changing the angle of his hips, Steve decided to see if he could brush up against her g-spot to push her over. It took a couple of tries but on the third thrust, he knew from the way she'd clamped around him that he'd found it.

"Steve," Emily gasped out as he focused his efforts on that spot, over and over.

Within seconds, Emily screamed, and he fucked her through it, slowing down slightly so she could recover even though the effort was killing him. The moment she seemed to come back to him, he pushed forward, and again, then he was hurtling towards his own release, hoping his wild thrusts weren't hurting her.

Steve cried out as he came, and it seemed to go on forever as she hung onto him, a soft warm press beneath him. At least he had the wherewithal to fall to her side instead of on her, struggling to breathe and to get his vision back.

"Are… you alright?" Steve asked as soon as he could manage speech.

Emily hum next to him was a happy sound.

Not convinced, he forced himself up, heading to her bathroom for a washcloth he ran under warm water. Emily seemed embarrassed at first when he climbed up the bed to clean her up but it gave him an excuse to assess the damage. There was no bleeding, that was good. He'd left a love bite at the base of her neck, not proud of the fact that he loved that he'd marked her. Emily was his.

Tossing the cloth to the floor, he climbed into bed next to her, pulling her into his arms where she belonged. Emily was sound asleep before he could even get settled.

Okay, he'd admit to being proud of that.