Chapter 8

When I exited the elevator, I was instantly hugged and passed around the Merry Men. "We were worried about you Bomber," Bobby stated. I noticed the other men agreed.

"I'm fine," I replied.

He gently touched the bruise along my jaw and said, "You're not fine. I can see you're injured."

"Not as bad as the other guys," I said as I briefly glanced at Bruce. His attempt to stop himself from smiling sent me into a fit of giggles.

"Babe?" Ranger asked. I interpreted this as 'What is so funny?'

"Hulk. He really didn't like Cameron punching me. Let's just say, Cameron's punch probably didn't hurt me as much as Hulk's punch hurt him and his buddy."

The others joined in my laughter. "You mean?" Ranger asked as he pointed around the group.

"Yes. I've met almost all my platonic soulmates. There's only 4 left to meet." I was so happy to finally meet my romantic soulmate. Our skip coming to Manhattan was the best decision he made.

The elevator dinged and opened to a food trolly filled with pizza boxes. A slim, strawberry blond woman pushed the cart into the room. Another food trolly containing drinks and paper plates was pushed into the room by a brunette woman with wildly curly hair. I watched almost mesmerized by all the food. When the strawberry blond woman walked past me, I noticed her boots. "Wow. Those are kick ass boots. Can I borrow them?"

She gasped, glanced at my feet and replied, "Sure. We're the same size." I just met another one.

The elastic holding my hair suddenly broke, causing my hair to expand. "Yay! I'm not the only one with crazy hair!" the brunette yelled.

I felt my hair and noticed it was sticking out from my head. With a sigh I said, "It's worse in the morning." The brunette gasped.

"I'm Darcy Lewis," she said before pulling me into a hug.

After ensuring the food and drinks were easily accessible, the strawberry blond woman approached me and said, "Pepper Potts. I'm Stark Industries CEO. It's a pleasure meeting you."

"Wow. I'm so excited to meet all of you. Stephanie Plum. Please call me Steph." My stomach decided to growl again. I pulled down Steve's shirt to show Pepper and Darcy their writing. Both women had my words written down their right rib cage. I happened to notice Bucky's writing in black across Darcy's stomach. When Bucky returns, I must introduce him to her. She noticed me looking and quickly pulled down her top.

"You need to feed the beast," Ram announced. Pepper looped her arm in mine and led me to the pizza. I grabbed a plate and piled on 4 slices.

"Can you eat all that?" Pepper asked in shock.

"Easily. Just ask my Merry Men. I can easily pack away more food than they could," I said as I pointed out my Rangeman team.

We sat on the couches and ate our fill of pizza. Pepper and Natasha were amazed I could eat an entire large pizza. "I told you I was starving. We had a distraction tonight and I didn't have time to eat dinner."

Steve was running his fingers through my hair. I relaxed against him. My eyes started to close when I heard a loud voice, "I would like to meet this Midgardian who has my soul brothers as their soul sister." I felt myself move from the couch, as though a powerful magnet was pulling me. My right hand grasped the left arm of the gorgeous God-like man as my left hand grasped the right arm of the Zena lookalike standing beside him. His laughter boomed through the room. "It appears she is Lady Sif and my soul sister too." He actually sounded ecstatic. "I'm Thor of Asgard."

"I am Lady Sif. A warrior of Asgard," said the Zena lookalike as she introduced herself.

"Stephanie Plum. Please call me Steph," I barely managed to squeak out. Once our introductions were complete, I was able to remove my hands from their arms. I looked towards Steve and the others. "I don't understand. Their words aren't written anywhere on my body."

Thor decided to explain. "On Asgard, our soul brothers and sisters join as we did, grasping each other's arms. When we meet our romantic mates, our bodies are pressed tightly together until we kiss."

I can't wait to get Steve alone to kiss him and do other non-kissing things. Steve moaned as everyone else laughed. "I said that aloud, didn't I?" I knew my face turned beet red.

Steve pulled me into his chest. He whispered, "I can't wait either."

Tony announced, "We have extra rooms available for everyone. Please stay with us as our guests." Pepper quickly went around the room to pass out keycards.

"The keycard will grant you access to the common areas, gym, kitchen and your guest room," she explained.

I noticed she glanced at Steve before handing me a card. "Steve, where am I staying?"

"I was hoping you would like to stay with me," his said as pink tinted his cheeks. He looked so adorable, how could I possibly deny him.

"I would love to stay with you," I whispered. Staying in Steve's suite will help me get to know my soulmate better. We have a lot to learn about each other. However, he was at a slight disadvantage. I read all the leaked SHIELD files at Rangeman. Steve knows next to nothing about me.

He linked his fingers with mine. We maintained contact until he released my hand to press it against the hand scanner. I heard the lock release before the door opened. He left me to explore as he changed into more comfortable clothes.

I was looking at an old picture of Steve and Bucky when I felt his arms wrap around me. "That photo was taken during our time with the Howling Commandos. Bucky went missing a few months later. I haven't seen him since he saved my life. He appeared to be breaking free of the brainwashing," Steve shared.

"He did break through the brainwashing. It wasn't the first time he managed that feat." I pulled him to the couch before continuing our conversation. "Bucky and I met nearly 16 years ago, 4 months before my seventeenth birthday. He saved me from being raped by a man who kept targeting me since I was 6." I subconsciously stroked his writing under my right arm. Steve's body tensed next to mine. I gently stroked his abdomen to calm him. "Bucky's one of my many platonic soulmates. He was not displaying any signs of being brainwashed when we first met. He was actively locating and destroying HYDRA labs. While I was in college, he disappeared for almost 2 years. I was worried when he missed his check ins. He returned in time for my graduation after escaping and breaking through the brainwashing. Bucky discovered and destroyed a few more labs. He disappeared for nearly 5 years after I received my MBA. Yes, he was recaptured. He said the brainwashing was more difficult to break through that time. Hearing our voices in his head helped him maintain focus until he finally broke through. He's currently in Australia at a warehouse in Adelaide. I expect him to check in next week."

I carefully reached up to run my fingers through his hair. "Bucky's okay Steve. He'll come back when he's finished this mission. When he checks in, I'll tell him I'm here with you."

He stroked his fingers down my face before pulling me into a kiss. His lips were warm and soft. I was right, his lips are absolutely kissable. He broke our passionate kiss and rested his forehead against mine. "Steph," he whispered. "We need to go slow. I want us to know everything about each other before we allow ourselves to get carried away." I could feel his heart quickly pounding beneath my hand. My left hand was wrapped in his hair as my right rested on his chest, over his heart.

"I'm sorry Steve. I have no experience, but I really need to feel this connection with you. If you really want to wait, we can, but I don't want to wait. I need to feel you," I whispered. A sense of desperation ripped through my body as I pushed my hands under his shirt and slowly pulled it up. I knew there was no stopping. We needed to get carried away in order to complete our bond. He paused to look into my eyes. After finding what he was searching for, he helped me pull off his shirt. Holy super serum. His body was ripped and oh so sexy. I felt him laugh as I ran my hands over my words written across his abdomen. Leaning in, I gently kissed them. His arms wrapped around me. He gently lifted me and carried me to his bedroom.

After closing the door, he set me on my feet and touched my shirt hem. He looked into my eyes, silently asking permission to remove it. I nodded and guided his hands to help him pull it up over my head. He bent over to kiss his words again. "You are so beautiful," he whispered. I reached behind my back to unclasp my bra. He gently pulled the straps down my arms, revealing my breasts. I was nervous, but my heart was beating fast.

"You can touch them Steve," I whispered on a heavy breath. He gently stroked my breast with the back of his hands before cupping them gently. A moan escaped as he sucked a nipple into his mouth. He gently pinched the opposite breast, rolling my nipple into a point. "Oh Steve," I moaned. "Please don't stop." He continued his attention on my nipples until I started shaking uncontrollably. Steve managed to prevent me from falling.

"Did you just orgasm?" he asked, unsure if he was correctly reading my physical response.

I assumed I had, so I nodded. We should probably stop, but my hormones and emotions were too far gone to prevent us from continuing. "Please Steve, I need more," I begged. My panties were completely drenched. The need to have him touch me started to overtake my actions. I pulled him to towards the bed, motioned for him to lay down and gently covered his body with mine. Feeling his rock hard abs and chest beneath my body had me quivering for a deeper connection. Our soul marks were perfectly aligned. A warmth flowed from his soul mark into my body. I could feel my warmth spread to his. Suddenly, I knew everything there was to know about this gorgeous man. Using this connection, I concentrated on my life and instinctively used the connection to pour everything about myself into him.

"Can you feel it?" he asked. "I know everything I need to know about you. How did you do that?"

"Yes. I feel it too. It was instinct. I'm not sure how. Please Steve, I need you."

He shifted our bodies to remove our remaining clothes. Surprisingly, I wasn't embarrassed. Having him look at me reverently, touching, kissing and caressing my body was lighting an inferno deep in my core. He moved down my body, kissing, nipping and licking as he moved lower. I felt him spread my legs apart and slightly bend them so he could fit between my legs. My body shot off the bed as his tongue touched my clit. He moved his hands to hold my hips as he licked and sucked. I moaned as he pushed a finger inside me. Suddenly he stopped. "Steph are you sure Sweetheart? Once we do this, there's no going back."

"Please Steve. It feels so good. I need to feel you inside me," I begged as I tried to pull him into position. He crawled up my body and gently eased into me. I pulled him closer every time he paused to allow me to adapt to his size.

"You're very tight. We need to go slow. I don't want to hurt you," he whispered.

"You won't hurt me. Just rip off the bandaid." I moaned as he plunged into me. He waited a few seconds before moving. His hands slipped under my ass, slightly lifting me to change the angle. The friction between us and the new angle had him hitting all the right places. It quickly sent me over the edge as I screamed his name. I felt him pulse and release into me as he shouted my name.

He gently pulled out before rolling over and pulling me on top of him. "Did I hurt you Sweetheart?"

I quickly tested out my muscles before answering, "No Darling. CRAP!" I felt him stiffen beside me. He rubbed his hands down my side to my hips, attempting to comfort me. "We didn't use protection."

"I'll need to buy condoms before we make love again. In the mean time, whatever happens, we'll deal with it together," he whispered. I started thinking about when I had my last cycle. It started around 11 days ago. My cycle is the predictable 28 day cycle. I'll ovulate on day 14. It's day 11 now... so there's a very small chance I could get pregnant. Before I could full out panic, Steve tilted my head to look into my eyes. "Together, my love."

"Together," I agreed. He pulled me closer to his body as we fell asleep.