I stepped off the train into New York City with my rolling suitcase and laptop satchel.
That night in my apartment when an agent from S.H.I.E.L.D had knocked on my door at 1 in the morning was a hazy memory. Steve promised me that he'd always keep me safe, and his identity by extension. Sending him back to New York hadn't been an easy task, and I felt a bit paranoid the first day after that agent had tried to get me to agreed to memory erasure. I realized later that it had been an attempt to get me to agree while I was disoriented and probably not conscious, a sneaky and underhanded move. After he disappeared, Steve had explained to me that he didn't fully trust S.H.I.E.L.D., especially the mysterious board members who never revealed their identities to him. He made me promise to never sign anything I hadn't read first, especially if it was one of their agents. He then explained to me that mind erasure was a science that had been performed effectively, but there had been side effects of memory loss not pertaining to the targeted memories. I'd rather you be a risk than to forget one single moment we've have together, he said, eyes boring into mine.
The paranoia had faded, though. And Steve had gone above and beyond by having a roses delivered to me at school after he left, which was slightly embarrassing, but sweet. In the card, he said he'd always protect me, no matter what. Alissa thought it was hilarious and asked me to bring him around again to their Superbowl Party, promising she'd control Joel a little better than the last party Steve had attended.
Steve was nowhere to be found when I got to Grand Central Station as I scanned the crowd.
I got out my phone and dialed him, only to get voicemail. Sighing, I dialed him again, and nothing.
This wasn't like him. I went out to the taxi line and caught a cab to go to Brooklyn, a little anxious that he wasn't answering the phone. On the way over, I got a text from a web address from him with the code to enter his building and that a spare key was in the mailbox, along with his mailbox code.
It made sense: he had been mobilized, probably early this morning because we had spoken last night.
At his apartment, I discovered it had pretty much been left in a rush. His vibranium shield case was missing and his bed was rumpled, which meant a quick exit. Steve always made his bed with military precision. His cell phone was still in the charger on the kitchen counter with my missed calls and texts.
In the bedroom, I found a sketch of his had done of me in a frame beside the bed. It wasn't a naked pose, but I was sitting in a booth in the diner in my waitress uniform, resting my chin on my fist while refilling sugar canisters. He had colored it in, too. My heart filled up, but it also made me look prettier than I actually was. Well, I didn't mind that so much.
And the good news was that this meant I had access to that bathtub all to myself.
After I poured a glass of wine (he had my favorite boxed red in the fridge already chilled and a bottle of white) and made up his bed, I ran a hot bath to soak in. I wondered where he was, as I opened my notebook where I had taken notes in class to study.
The bath felt incredible for being the first one I had had since last summer. I stayed in until the water went tepid and got some quiet time in. As I was sitting down on the couch to continue reading fully dressed, I heard a key in the door.
It opened and Steve appeared in the doorframe.
"I'm so glad you got in okay," he said, looking exhausted. "How are you?"
"I am incredible since I had a hot bath. You look exhausted," I said, getting up from the couch. I stood on my toes to kiss him and tried to help with his duffel and shield case, but he wouldn't let me.
"I got it," he said taking it all into the bedroom to set down on the dresser. "Tony didn't add anything dirty in that message, did he?"
"What?" I asked. "No, it was perfectly perfunctory. So, what country did you go to?"
"You know I'm not supposed to tell you that," Steve said, unzipping the bag, getting out his red, white, and blue tactical gear to put into a laundry sack. "But I was still on the continent."
"Mexico?" I asked from the doorway. He took his helmet out of the duffel and kissed me on the way to the closet, not saying anything.
He dropped the helmet as the kissed deepened, and reached up to tangle his fingers in my hair. I leaned into it, and let him guide me backwards until the backs of my calves met the mattress.
"What are your intentions with me, Captain Rogers?" I teased.
"To do my new favorite activity. If you want, of course."
"Yes, please."
He tugged my top up between kisses, leaving me in my bra. I pulled him into my arms and to the bed. Mounting him, a grin cross his face as I pulled his t-shirt up, exposing his chest. He yanked it up and tossed it over his head.
"It's been a long week," he said.
"Yeah," I agreed. I had missed him a lot. I climbed down his body, finding the buckle to his belt. I undid it, and started tugging on it. Undressing him was fun, I had to admit.
As we kissed passionately, he managed to unhook my bra behind me (he seemed to be getting more confident). He flipped me over onto my back, and I felt fingers slipping under the waistband of my jeans, right under my belly button. "Go ahead," I whispered.
He buttoned the top of my fly. He looked up at me, a smirk on his face, and gazes connected. The fingertips took my zipper and pulled it down. He kissed the point of my hip right above the elastic of my panties, tugging it down. "I missed you so much," I whispered. He yanked my jeans further down my hips and down my legs. Before I could get up, he unzipped his khakis. I reached over and helped him push them, and his shorts, down. We had forgotten he was still in his boots, and we had to get them off, laughing at ourselves.
I let his hands roam my body as we laid down together in the bed, kissing. I myself reached up to toy with one of his nipples, his cock starting to harden against my thigh.
"You have a condom, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, I do," he said between kisses on my shoulder. "In the nightstand."
"Yes!" I hissed.
"I got 'em," he said. "I even bought them myself at the drugstore. You'd be so proud of me."
"I am, trust me," I chortled as he reached for them. It was a whole box. "Let me love you with my mouth?"
"Please, sweetheart."
He rolled over onto his back and I slid down and cupped his balls. I pumped his cock, it was at half-mast. His eyes closed, and he sighed, throwing his head back on the pillow.
"Dani," he breathed as I got his cock hard. I ran my thumb over the head and stroked down with my other hand. He went rigid in my grip, his own hand ghosting over my hair. "So good…" I took him into my mouth, running my tongue down the underside of the veiny cock. I loosening my throat, allowing him into the back of my throat, humming from the back of my throat for a moment, then popping his cock out when my gag reflex almost activated.
"How's that?" I asked.
"Don't stop," he pleaded.
I took him back into my mouth and sucked just enough to make a little pressure, not much. I felt his muscles clench slightly. I pulled his cock out of my mouth. "No, I want to be with you," I whispered, kissing his happy trail. I kissed my way up to his nipple and took it into my mouth, sucking gently and running the tip of my tongue around it, making it hard.
I heard gasps of air coming out of his throat, he chanted my name. "... So good…" he moaned as I worked over to his other nipple.
His hands left my waist, and picked up the the little foil packet, ripping it with his teeth.
"Can we hold off for a minute?" I asked.
"You're not ready?"
"I just want to enjoy you for a few minutes, baby."
I took his hand and took his pinky finger into my mouth, sucking on it gently. I closed my eyes and enjoyed him. His other hand stroked my hair as I went down his digits. "You're incredible," he muttered. I pulled his finger out of my mouth and closed my eyes. "You make the simplest things…"
"Hot?"
"I was going to say 'erotic.' You make the little things… count."
His hands slid around to the small of my back and he helped me lay down. We held each other and kissed. His fingers found my nipples, tweaking and pinching them slightly. I moaned softly into his kisses. He pulled away from me for a moment, and I realized he was focusing my breasts. His hands cupped my breasts, thumbs brushing my nipples. I writhed against him, creating some friction, and the scruff of his five-o'clock-shadow on his cheeks brushed against my neck as he tickled me with neck kisses. His hand worked his way down my side to my waist, slid down under my belly button, and into my cleft.
I squeezed my eyes shut and cried out.
"Is that alright?"
"Yes," I whispered, his fingers exploring my most intimate area of my body. I wrapped a leg around his hips, grinding on him a little bit. His fingers entered me, his thumb brushing around for my clit. He pressed his weight onto me, pressing me into the mattress.
"Ready?" he asked.
Well, he was eager. "Yeah," I agreed. He was still learning. I didn't want to bruise his ego too much: he had listened to me.
He got the condom and put it on, rolling off me onto his back. He stroked the length a few times as I parted my legs.
"Come to me," I said softly. He settled between my legs and held his member with one hand, his other arm propping himself up. I slipped a hand between my legs to hold myself open for him. He moaned quietly as the head of his cock entered my body. "That's it." I let go of myself and stroked my clit while he started thrusting gently into my body, his breathing labored. The pressure built up inside me and I leaned my head back.
"You feel so good," Steve uttered. I wrapped my legs around his hips. Giving up on an orgasm, I stopped stroking myself, and held onto him, his hands pressing to his back.
"Faster," I urged.
He started to speed up his moves, and I heard soft grunts come out of the back of his throat.
"Steve," I cried. "Steven!"
He ground his teeth and sped up his thrusts, pumping in and out of me. "God, Dani… you are…"
"Please!" I cried as he started pounding into me. I squeezed my eyes shut and felt everything inside me lighting up.
At that moment, he came inside me, with a strangled cry.
He collapsed on top of me, his body going limp, panting. I stroked his sweaty back.
"Did I do it this time?" he asked between ragged breaths.
"Well… not quite. Almost."
He groaned, almost growled, annoyed, and pulled out of me. "What am I doing wrong?"
"Nothing," I replied. "We're just getting to know what turns each other on."
He grumbled under his breath, laying down beside me.
I got up out of the bed to go to the bathroom.
I left Steve to sleep, and took another bath after wiping us both off. After my bath, I got up to get something to eat, and I realized Steve had all the baking ingredients for koulourakia, brand-new in his cabinets. I started on the cookies, the recipe in my head already. He didn't have any measuring cups, so I had to guess on most of it. When I got them in the oven, there was finally time to study and work on my first research paper of the semester.
Seeing Steve was a relief. I missed him, I had to be honest. True, we were in a honeymoon stage where all we wanted to do was fuck, I couldn't let that passion cloud my judgment. But he really did have something special, we had a spark of some kind. I dared to think long-term about him.
I couldn't see him moving to DC for me, unless the Avengers Initiative allowed him to. But maybe they would. But I could see myself moving to Brooklyn to be with him. And Steve was so traditional in so many senses. He said he eventually wanted to get married, and the idea of children didn't scare him, it seemed. I was relieved that we had made a strong relationship and friendship before getting to sex, too. We had to nurture that and build it for when sex wasn't a novelty anymore so that we still valued each other.
After I had finished writing a few pages of my paper, the sun started to set. I heard his phone chime and the bed creak, and then his heavy footsteps going into the bathroom. Good, he was up.
I saved my work as the toilet flushed and Steve came out, bed-headed, pillow creased lining his cheek. "Hey," he said, stumbling into the living room. "It smells like Christmas in this apartment."
"The cookies are cooling in the kitchen if you want one."
He shuffled into the kitchen. "Oh my God, Dani, these are incredible," he said. "I'm probably going to eat the whole batch."
"Why thank you."
"How far along are you on your paper?" he asked, coming into the living room to sit down with me, about four cookies in his hand.
"I've written a few pages," I said. "I'm still working on formatting them in APA style."
"Good. I wanted to ask you though… How would you feel about going to a party in Manhattan tonight?"
"Tonight?" I repeated.
"Tony's having one in Stark Tower," he said. "I got a text message bout it just now. It's kind of a celebration for our win today. Some singer's going to be there… I think her name is Cardi...? Erm… Cardi B something, it doesn't say her last name."
"Cardi B?" I cried, astonished.
"You know her?"
"Yeah, I do!" I cried. "She's one of the most successful singers on the charts today! My sister loves her music."
"So you want to go?"
"How formal is it going to be?"
"It says 'formal cocktail attire.'"
I groaned. The dressiest thing I had brought was my black leather jacket to go with a black lace top and my dressy jeans and boots. It was a little more urban than formal. "Would you be okay with me going in jeans? Do you think I'd be allowed in?"
"I'd be proud to take you in anything. Except that little lace number you wore last weekend, I don't want anybody ever seeing you in that but me."
"Be serious!"
"I am!"
"I'm going to get ready- oh crap, we need to bring a host gift!"
"Don't worry about that, Tony has everything already-"
"That doesn't matter!" I cried, running to the bedroom to change and put on some make-up. "Put a dozen of the cookies into a container!" I instructed. "And get that bottle of wine out."
"I doubt anybody's gonna notice an extra bottle of wine and cookies at a party like this. Do you even know what kind of parties he throws?"
"Just do it," I commanded. I traded my yoga pants for the dark slim-fit jeans, and groaned: there was a bleach spot on the hip. "Fuck, are you kidding me?" I shouted, ripping them off myself. I sniffed it and smelled bleach or drain cleaner. How did this get on my jeans?
"What's got you cursing?" he asked, coming into the room.
I held up the jeans with the bleach spot on them. "I loved these jeans!" I moaned. "They made me look slimmer and they're ruined!"
"How did that happen?" he asked.
"I think… I think bleach got spilled on my suitcase," I whined. "On the train." I flopped down on the bed for dramatic effect. "Or maybe my bathroom at home and I just didn't notice it until just now!"
"Hey, no need for hysterics, maybe we can fix this," Steve said, picking them up. "Maybe I've got a black marker- no, these are a really dark blue, not black-"
"I can't go," I moaned.
"Yes, you can," he insisted. "Come on, my friends on the team aren't going to care what you're wearing."
"You told me Tony Stark wasn't a friend ," I said. "He's a billionaire, practically American royalty, I can't show up in a pair of yoga pants!"
"If he wasn't a billionaire, just a regular Joe, you wouldn't have a problem with meeting him in what you've got on."
I groaned and rolled over on the bed, face-down.
"Listen, if it bothers you so much, I can RSVP that we're not going," he said, his hand rubbing my back.
"No, you go," I said, muffled by the mattress. "Tell them I couldn't make it."
"This is New York, maybe we can find something, there are some dress shops down the street-"
"I can't afford to buy a new dress right now, I just bought my textbooks."
"I'll pay for it."
"No way! Didn't we agree that you're not my ATM?"
He grumbled unintelligibly under his breath.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be difficult," I said, lifting my head. "I'm being a drama queen right now. I just want to make a good impression on them. I don't want to be self-conscious and nervous."
"If you don't want to go, I won't go, either. I feel bad enough about being mobilized when you got here this morning."
"That's your job," I sighed. "I'm just being dramatic, I'm sorry. How long do we have?"
"I think… an hour at best including the trip across the river," he checked his watch.
"Okay, let's go," I said, standing up, picking up my yoga pants. "I'm sorry, those were my favorite jeans and they're ruined, I'm just a little upset about that. They didn't have Anne Taylor Loft, did they?"
The door buzzed.
He kissed my head and got up to answer the intercom. "Yes?"
"This is Dalton Messenger Service for Danielle Conyers."
There was a long pause. "Dani?" Steve called, buzzing them in.
"Who is it?" I asked, pulling my yoga pants back on.
"A messenger service. Were you expecting something?"
"No," I said, going back into the living room.
The messenger knocked on the door, and Steve opened it.
The messenger was a middle-eastern looking man, and he was carrying a garment bag and had a small suitcase and a shoe box. "Miss Conyers? Hi, I have a delivery for you from Pepper Pots."
"Who?" I asked, stumped.
He set the items down on the couch, reaching into his trench coat. "She sent a letter to you."
I opened it, and it was on cardstock, hand-written.
"You know the saying 'behind every great man is a great woman?' That's Pepper and Tony," Steve explained.
'Dear Miss Conyers,
Hi, I'm Pepper, I'm Tony Stark's 'right arm'. He asked me to throw last-minute a party this afternoon, and it would be a shame if you missed it. You're all Steve talks about, and I can't wait to meet you. I hope this outfit I picked out for you is to your liking. You can keep the dress and shoes, but the earrings and necklace have to go back to TIffany's, couldn't wrangle those for you. Don't ask how I did it, just come to the party tonight.
Best Wishes,
Pepper Potts, MBA,
Vice President of Operations
Stark Enterprises '
"Pepper's brilliant. If she came from Tony's money, she'd be the one of the cover of Forbes magazine," Steve said.
The messenger opened the suitcase and I saw a beautiful, delicate gold chain with seed pearls and a matching set of drop-pearl earrings. "Oh my God!" I exclaimed. "These are real?"
"Yes, indeed," the messenger said. "Miss Pots already signed off on them, but we'll be back for them in the morning."
"Hey, Dani, looks like you've got a dress to wear to the party," Steve said, unzipping the garment bag, exposing a beautiful cranberry-colored silk dress with delicate gold embroidery with seed bead pearls.
Let's talk Cinderella moments. A girl's guaranteed to have one at a her wedding. But I was having one tonight as we pulled up to Stark Tower in a cab. In the wreckage of the attack on New York, Tony Stark had left the A on the Stark Tower alone in the rebuilding, glowing in the Manhattan night. It glowed over our heads.
"Don't be so nervous around the rest of my the team," Steve said, helping me out of the cab. I carefully aimed the shoes, heels with pearls inlaid in the heel and the spike, out of the gutter water, Steve picked me up so I avoided it all together. They weren't designer shoes, but they had to be expensive. I clutched the white wine bottle and the Zip-loc baggie of koulourakia. "You already know Natasha. She likes you, I swear. And if my sources are correct, Bruce and Thor are going to be there. Clint might have disappeared, though. You'll get to meet my whole team, I think."
The doorman opened the door for us as we walked into a clean, but beautiful lobby. The guard at the front desk nodded at us. "Hi, how are you?" I said, out of habit.
He only nodded back.
"Front deskmen rarely talk to guests or residents unless they can serve them," Steve muttered.
"Oh," I said, blushing.
"You're just Southern. And friendly. 'Nothing wrong with that."
As we took the elevator up, I unbuttoned my ratty peacoat. I hoped I'd get to deposit it at the coat check before anybody really saw me in it.
On the top floor, there was a lobby with a large, soothing stone and water piece on the wall. The door was open, and we walked into a full-fledged classy party, like something you'd see on TV, but it as in real life. I tried not to let my astonishment show.
"May I take your coat?" the man at the front door asked.
"Yes please," I said, "Thank you!"
"Can I take your other items?"
I blushed, and realized how awkward it would be to present this to Mr. Stark. "Could you make sure Mr. Stark gets these?" I asked.
"Of course, ma'am. Captain Rogers, we'll put these under your name?"
"If you don't mind," Steve said. He took my hand and walked me into the penthouse suite of Stark Tower.
Among the people at the party, I spotted a few film and television stars, and a few supermodels.
"You are so nervous," Steve whispered. "Do you need a drink?"
"A drink would be nice," I admitted. At the bar, Steve and I ordered, and of course, it was an open bar. Tony Stark had an incredible view of the city, and it glimmered, taking my breath away through the infiniti windows leaning out to the balcony. I had learned a little bit about manners and party decorum from my mother, and I tried to remember it all as Steve filled me in on the different people from S.H.I.E.L.D he worked with that were there. Among a group of New York Knicks basketball players in one corner, I saw Natasha talking to them, and she commanded their full attention even though she was at least a foot shorter than the smallest one. I caught her eye, and I waved at her. She waved back, but went back to talking to them.
"There's Clint, brooding in the shadows," Steve muttered in my ear. I glanced over to where he was nodding. A guy was sitting at one of the cocktail tables, watching the party.
"Hawkeye?" I whispered.
He nodded. "He doesn't usually socialize."
"And that's Thor?" I asked, nodding at the big, beefy blond guy with his hair pulled back into a ponytail, wearing a silk button-up navy blue shirt with adoring models giggling at everything he said.
"And that's Dr. Banner."
A man, a little shorter than Steve, was walking towards us, reading his phone.
"Hey, Bruce!" Steve called. He looked up, and I could see silver edging his sideburns. He was kind of cute, in a doctor kind of way.
"Steve! Hey!" Bruce cried.
"Glad you made it," Steve said. "Bruce, I want you to meet my girlfriend. This is Danielle Conyers."
"Nice to meet you," I said, my accent coming out full-fledged. Most of the time, I could control that, but the more nervous I was in social situations, the more it came out. I held out my hand, which he shook.
"Nice to meet you too, Danielle," he said.
"You can call me Dani," I said. "You're the doctor who works for the W.H.O? Humanitarian work?"
"Yeah, that's what I do," he said, almost shyly. I got the impression Dr. Banner wasn't the most social creature.
"He works in some of the poorest parts of Asia," Steve said. "He's actually pretty brilliant."
"Oh, come on now," Dr. Banner bashfully.
"And married to his work. That's why I wasn't sure he'd be here tonight."
"It gives me a reason to live," Dr. Banner said. "It's not a career, it's my life."
I smiled at that. "I get that way about psychology."
"Steve said you were going into counseling psychology?"
"Yes, that's right," I said, feeling myself relax a little bit. "I go to George Washington U in DC."
"Great school, I did a few studies there," he said. "Expensive, though."
"Yeah, I'm on a lot of student loans, grants, and scholarships," I admitted.
"And she still works," Steve added, his hand touching the small of my back. "I've never seen a lady work so hard."
"It gets better the further along you go," Dr. Banner said. "Which branch of counseling are you the most interested in?"
"Attachment theory," I said. "I find that fascinating."
"I did, too! I personally found it sad when I saw the studies on one-year-olds with dysfunctional attachment."
"Oh, so did I!" I cried. "I think attachment dysfunction can affect how people grow up and their relationships later in life."
"Did you study Bowen?"
"I did, but I'm a little more fond of Minuchin's theories."
Bruce and I got into a conversation about attachment theory and its effect for a few minutes, and then his phone chimed. I realized Steve had been watching me, proudly as I got into a discussion with Dr. Banner. "If you could excuse me, it's one of my interns in Cambodia, I've got to make a phone call," he said.
"It was so nice talking to you, Dr. Banner," I said.
"You too," he said, and leaned forward to kiss me on the cheek. "And it's just Bruce, not Dr. Banner."
"I think he likes you," Steve whispered as Bruce went to the kitchen to make a call.
Steve and I went out to the balcony to see the city. It was freezing, but there were outdoor heaters people were standing around them. "See, I can't really weigh in on the things you talk about with the brainy people."
"Why not?" I asked.
"Science isn't my thing, it's battle and strategy. I could recite the chapters of your textbooks I've read, but I don't think I really get it, you know?"
"Well, it's good that we have separate specialities. I think we were in the same field, we'd end up arguing. I like hearing about your work. And you seem to like hearing about mine."
"At first I thought it was… malarkey."
"Har har," I replied.
"But not now," he said. "I see the merit in what you do. What you do helps, and… Dani… I um…"
His arm around my back stiffened. He had this habit of trying to tell me something really difficult, but he choked up at the last second.
"Nevermind."
"You can tell me anything, you know," I said. "You're my favorite person to talk to, you know that, right?"
"And you're that for me."
"I kind of think of you as… my best friend," I admitted. "I know we've only know each other a couple of months, but you're the first person I think of when I have something happen, who I want to tell first. I've never had this happen with a boyfriend or someone I'm dating."
His arm relaxed. "How do you feel about me, Dani?"
I realized how amazing of a person he was. What a pure, honest heart he had, and how much respect and honor that was just a part of him. There had been a time before I met him that I didn't think men had that any longer. I felt tears pricking my eyes when I thought about how he made me feel. I had asked myself several times if I loved him. I looked over at him, and he was looking at me. I could see a little fear in his eyes, that I was going to say the wrong thing. And then I lost all my nerve at that moment: I probably would. We were still in the honeymoon phase of our relationship where the sex was exciting and new, and possibly clouding my judgment. I knew Steve pretty well, but we hadn't been through a lot of difficult situations together, yet. What would that reveal about his character? "You make me believe that there's still good in this world. And I that I don't have to be scared. Because you said you'd protect me."
He looked relieved when I said that.
"I know I try to be tough and feminist, but I'm not Natasha, I can't defend myself very well in bad situations. Knowing you're there makes me want to…"
"Take more risks?"
"No!" I laughed. "It makes me happy. There are things I can experience in life that I might have missed if I had never met you. You're opening the world up to me. I want to go places with you, and I'm not afraid of the unknown, now. Because… I keep thinking you'll be there."
He didn't say anything, just pressed his forehead to mine.
"How do you feel about me?" I asked.
He opened his mouth to answer, but a loud blast of music blared over invisible speakers and a MC announced Cardi B.
As the music crescendoed, Cardi B came out in a costume with backup dancers and if Steve said anything to me, it was drowned out by the music.
I had left my phone in my purse: anybody who had a phone had their camera option suddenly disabled, and I guessed that Tony Stark's technology was behind it. I didn't have the option of filming the concert to brag to Lauren. Icy dots of rain fell from the sky and stung my skin, but I wasn't moving from this spot through the warmth. With Steve holding me as we watched together, I pressed my back into his chest to watch the show.
Cardi B finished her music, that I recognized from hanging out with Lauren, and the crowd cheered. I had never been to such a big-name concert in such an intimate setting.
"What did you think?" I asked Steve, turning around to look up at him.
"Not my style. But she had really great energy."
"I thought so too. Her dancers were great!"
"If you say so," he scoffed.
"Captain?"
I turned around and saw a statuesque redhead who had the body of a model in a little black dress with tasteful rhinestones and demure (but gorgeous) jewelry, behind us. "Pepper! Hi, how are you?" Steve asked, going forward to hug her and kiss her cheek.
"Did you enjoy the concert?" she asked, smiling pleasantly. "This is Danielle, right? Hi, I'm Pepper Potts."
"Thank you for the dress. And the shoes and… the whole outfit," I gushed. "That was so generous of you and… just what I needed. My dressy outfit got ruined on the train."
She shook my hand and grinned. "I'm good like that," she said, winking knowingly. "We've wanted to meet you for a while. And Tony said thank you for the wine and cookies."
I blushed; I didn't think they had noticed anything yet.
"We're glad you made it, regardless. You know, if you were interested, Tony's turning away from military contracting, and he's turning his industries towards green energies and rebuilding the VA. Part of rebuilding the VA is the mental care aspect of what happens to our soldiers after war. He wants to engineer new methods of healing PSTD."
"Really?" I asked.
"We can talk later," she said knowingly. She hugged Steve good-bye. "It's good to see you again."
"You too, Pepper."
Pepper went on to greet another couple and chat them up.
"Ready to meet some more of my people?" Steve asked.
"You bet."
Steve introduced me to several people from S.H.I.E.L.D. and they were pretty interesting. We ended up in a small lounge off to the side with Thor, of all people. I remembered him from the Chute the night when we met and the way he spoke as a little strange, but he was hilarious with a few beers in him. Thor struck me as a big, tough football player that was a giant teddy bear off the field. I realized the party was emptying out.
"It's getting late," I said to Steve. "I don't want to be the last guest at the party."
"Yeah, I understand. Oh, I have a new surprise for you," he said, putting his phone back into his pocket. "Thor, why don't you come with us?"
"Where are we going, friend?"
"It's a surprise for Dani."
"I love surprises! Count me in!"
We picked up our coats, and Thor told me that he'd be leaving in a few hours, but he had enjoyed the 'City of Mortals' and meeting me. In the cab, Steve gave the driver an address, and we were crammed in there with Thor. Thor was actually a little bit bigger than Steve, even more muscles and long blond hair. I was crammed in the middle of the bench seat, I knew a few girls who'd have been dead jealous in a moment like this. It was weird to think I was sitting between a super soldier born in the 1920s and a god.
Thor found so many things in the moral world hilarious, like little children wearing mittens. "You can't even use your fingers wearing those!" he laughed as we pointed out a child being carried by his father, asleep on his shoulder on the sidewalk.
"I made a pair of those once. Most difficult thing I've ever made with knitting needles."
"Why would you do that to a small one, though?" he asked.
I laughed, too. "You're weird."
He laughed, too. "You're 'weird' too, Danielle Conyers."
The cab pulled up in front of a jazz club.
"What is this?" I cried, excited.
"Remember when you came to New York to visit me for the first time, and we never go to see the 14-piece orchestra?" Steve asked. "I got the message that they were playing tonight."
I squealed in excitement.
"She likes this," Steve explain to Thor.
Inside, we could hear the band playing. Through the foyer, we found the main room, and the band was playing. I almost swooned I was so happy.
"Miss Conyers, would you care to dance?" Steve shouted over the music.
I took his arm and we went out onto the dance floor, and we reviewed East Coast Swing, even though I wasn't really dressed for it. At one point, Thor came over and asked if he could cut in, and I found out he was a little more forceful in leading and tried to make me do aerial stunts some of the other couples had been doing. I had to calm him down, he was too eager but only stepped on my toes only a few times. I went back to the bar to find Steve when another girl came up and asked to dance with Thor.
"Having fun?" he asked, the white wine spritzer waiting beside him. He handed it to me.
"Tonight has been incredible. I can't believe I got see Cardi B in concert and got a designer dress," I marveled. He beamed with pride. "It's been perfect. Thank you."
"Can I take you out on the floor again?" he asked.
"Please!"
I was surprised Thor hadn't thrown any of the girls who had cut in on us into the rafters, but they were all giggling and enjoying it. Steve and I didn't show off like that, but danced to about two or three more songs. We said goodnight to Thor, who was making friends all over the place, and took a cab back to Brooklyn to go home.
"Is Thor normally that good with the ladies?" I joked.
"Always," Steve said. "Of course, they're going to be really disappointed when he disappears from New York for a few months or years."
"He was a good dancer, I bet he'll come back for that," I admitted. "But very eager. This is not a dancing dress, there's no real give to the skirt and he was trying to throw me up into the air."
"You look so beautiful. I was so proud to have you as my date tonight."
"You think I'm pretty!" I sang.
"Of course."
"I'm surprise none of those girls who danced with Thor got thrown into the ceiling tiles," I laughed.
"Me too!"
"Is he a dumbass?"
"A dumbass?" Steve laughed. "What?"
"All brawns and no brains? Is he stupid?"
"No, he's actually pretty smart, just culturally… he's very different. Like me."
"He just made me laugh a lot. He's cute. Does he have a girlfriend?"
"I don't think he's ready to settle down, yet. Don't go trying to fix him up."
We crossed the river back to Brooklyn, and got out at his apartment. Upstairs, we avoided crazy Helen and unlocked his apartment. Even though it was almost midnight, I went to the bathroom to run another bath to warm up and just enjoy the hot water.
"You're running another bath?" he asked.
"I haven't had access to a bathtub in months," I said, going into the bedroom and taking off the leased jewelry, leaving it on the dresser. "Don't you ever take baths?"
"No," he snorted. "I think the last time I took a bath I was twelve and couldn't stand up after a stint in the hospital from a bad asthma attack."
"You're sure you don't want to get in with me?" I asked, unzipping my dress and carefully hanging it up on the hanger it had come on.
"I doubt we can both fit in there."
"You can watch me?" I suggested, unhooking my bra and stepping back into the bathroom, glancing over my shoulder.
He was watching me.
"You're killing me!" he called.
Hissing, I lowered my naked body into the hot water and groaned in relief as the heat soaked into my body. My feet needed it the most. "I'm leaving bath fizzies here for next time I come to New York," I yelled.
"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea," Steve said from the doorway. "Leave some of your stuff here. I could clear out a dresser drawer. And maybe I could leave some stuff at your place? Then, we could just catch a train and not have to worry about luggage."
"You could drive your motorcycle down more," I said, thinking of my ruined clothing. "I think that's a great idea, let's do it."
"Okay," Steve said. I heard him rustling around in the bedroom. He was making room for me!
Of course, I had a panicked thought that things were moving too fast. But when I thought about why it was so scary, it was only scary because men were supposed to be scared of commitment. He was committing to me. Was it because he was lonely after all his family and friend had died? He needed something to hold onto. Was that such a bad thing? It really wasn't. I didn't mind being someone's everything.
Once my toes turned to prunes and the water turned tepid, I got out of the tub. Steve did not have a bathrobe for some weird reason, so I wrapped up in a bath towel.
"I've already started unpacking your suitcase," Steve said, proudly. "And I've got room in my closet, too."
"I'm so proud of you!" I laughed. "Even offering me closet space! I'm impressed… and you're really stupid, do you know that?"
" I'm stupid?" he asked, stunned.
"Yes! You trust your girlfriend not to take your closet over?" I asked, getting out my bottle of lotion from my suitcase to lotion up in the bathroom and my phone from the dresser.
"Oh, I get it. Don't you think that's a sexist stereotype? And unfair?"
"No! Have you seen how packed my closet is?" I called back, rubbing lotion into my legs.
"I just assumed that was because your apartment is a closet itself."
"Touché!" I cried, taking off the towel to get my back and stomach. I grabbed the white button up he had been wearing tonight from the hamper and slipped it on.
I turned on Nina Simone's Feeling Good on my phone.
"Dani, did you turn on the music?" Steve asked while I finished buttoning the shirt.
"Be patient, Stevie," I called as Nina Simone finished the opening a capella verse.
The music started, and I yanked the door open. Steve was laying on top of the bed, reading a book. I stood up on my toes and started the burlesque-sexy walk across the floor, and stopped in the doorway to wiggle my hips and do a shoulder-shimmy.
"Is that my shirt?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Of course." I did a few dance moves that Nia had taught me from burlesque, and tried to unbutton the shirt one at a time to tease. Steve was trying not to laugh, but was looking at me like I was insane.
I flashed a little more skin, and a little more as I unbuttoned my top, and then went behind the door once I got it completely unbuttoned, slipping it off out of his view, holding it out for him to see.
"You're just teasing me, now, aren't you?"
I dropped the shirt.
"Did you enjoy that?" I asked, coming out of the bathroom. His eyebrows almost shot off his head when he saw me walk out of the bathroom in the full light, completely naked.
"Dani, uh…"
"You've seen me naked before," I said, climbing into the bed. "Aren't you always complaining about me wearing complicated 'underthings' you just want to get me out of?"
"Never with all the lights on," he said. "Okay… maybe I enjoy undressing you just a little bit. I'm still figuring out what I like with you. There's so much we haven't tried yet."
I sighed, thinking of how dangerous his job was.
"What's wrong?"
"You've got a dangerous job," I said. "I'd say you've got all the time in the world, but you could die tomorrow when you've been mobilized."
"Hey, I'm a lot tougher than that!" he cried. "I survived crashing into the Arctic and being frozen for seventy years. I wear Kevlar and light titanium in battle. A couple of bullets aren't going to do anything to me. And I've got all the known vibranium in world in my shield. It's pretty much the strongest shield ever created by man. I'll be around."
"So, what do you want to do with me, Captain Rogers?" I asked.
"Uh…" his cheeks turned pink. I honestly thought he'd be unable to say anything. "Would think I'm completely sick if I asked to take you, bent over?"
A fire lit inside me. "I'm okay with that," I admitted.
"Oh my God…" he muttered, embarrassed.
"I'm not laughing," I said. "I fantasize about that, too. I've done it in that position more than once, it's not that perverted."
"You do? Okay, good. I'm not a complete degenerate."
"No," I said, trying to suppress a laugh. I walked my fingers up his bare chest. "Well, maybe we're both degenerates and we'd enjoy each other in pervy ways. And nobody has to know. It'll be our little secret, Stevie." I slid my fingers down to his waistband of his shorts, slipping my fingers under the elastic. I licked along the planes of his chest, getting to one of his nipples. I licked around it, feeling it harden under my tongue. I heard his breath catch in his throat. If he knew what I had wanted to do to him the first time I met him... "Let me try?"
"Please..." I slid my hand down his shorts and found his member awaiting me. His eyes squeezed shut and his lips parted, a groan coming out. "Oh, Dani.."
"I know, baby." I stroked the length, feeling it become harder. I loved watching his o-face as I worked him. I kissed along his neck up to the corner of his jaw. He turned his face to kiss my lips. I slid my hand down to his balls, and used feather-light touches at first. "Hold out," I coached.
"I'm trying," he groaned into my mouth, his hips arching up against mine. I swallowed his moans and he pressed into me, pushing me over onto my back, taking over. He pushed my hand away from his cock, and started pumping it himself, out of my view.
"Steve," I whispered. I didn't need to lube tonight, certainly, I was getting so hot.
"I don't think I'm going to last much longer," he said softly. "A condom? Please?"
"Kay," I replied, rolling over onto my side as he steadied his weight on one arm, planking over me. I grabbed the box of condoms out of the drawer and tore it open for him with my teeth. He took it and put it on, and I glanced down at his erection. "I love watching you touch yourself."
He groaned and closed his eyes, fumbling with the condom. I reached down and picked it up, pinching the tip, placing it over his cockhead. He rolled it down, it stretching over the robust length.
"I want it," I said softly. "Please!"
He tried to enter me, and this time, he ran the latex-covered cockhead up the line of my entrance. He pushed into me, I didn't even have to hold myself open this time. We both cried out at the same time.
"Steve, yes!" I cried as he put his weight on my body, blanketing it. We started moving together, he was shaking all over as he started thrusting inside me. "So good, I'm gonna…" I arched against him, and his movements sped up. My eyes were rolling up into the back of my head from the friction, the impending explosion was so close… "I'm so close- can you feel it?" I asked.
"Yeah, love, I can."
"Harder!" I begged.
"What?" he asked, his eyes opening. I could see unshed tears in his eyes.
"Deeper!" I begged. He pushed in deeper inside me, I arched harder. "Steven! Yes!" I was so close...
He came inside me, pulsing, a soft, strangled sound coming out of the back of his throat.
He collapsed on top of me, still shaking. "So much… I… Did you…"
"No," I whispered. "S'okay."
"I can't-"
"Not a big deal," I promised, although I was squirming on the edge. "Touch me?"
He was still shaking, breath ragged as he lifted his body off me. He still had his shorts around his hips as he pulled out of me. "I want to see what you look like." He sat down between my legs and I was completely open and exposed, wet, probably dripping from arousal. I tried to close my eyes as his fingers ghosted their way up my thigh to my inner lips. Just knowing he was looking at the most intimate part of me, studying it, how I reacted, his inquisitive fingers made me gasp and my toes curled. "So pretty…"
All my insecurities evaporated.
My breathing was labored and my muscles clenched as his touch. His fingers probed me apart, entering me. His thumb brushed the edge of one of my inner lips and I wore my hair curled, it was so electric. He traced along it, up over my clit, and down the other side. I looked down at him, his face intense, staring between my legs, tears gathered under his eyes, one dripping down his cheek, his breathing labored as his finger sought deeper refuge inside me. A long, slower groan came out of me unintentionally, my muscles clenching at the almost unbearable pleasure. His thumb slid into the crevice of between my inner and outer lips. "I wanna play you like a piano," he growled, the dirtiest thing to ever come out of his mouth to me. My lower back arched up in the air suddenly and out of my control, it was so hot.
"I want you to," I heard myself say. His fingers slowly pulled out of me, and slid down slightly.
"Oh Dani, you're…" His thumb brushed my clit. I felt my muscles contract at the pleasure. I couldn't take this kind of sex. I never had been able to. I was mewling, practicing, I squeezed my eyes shut, and tried to let the pleasure take me completely.
The thing with a good orgasm for me is I felt like I was floating. The endorphins were so good, it felt like gravity didn't exist. My whole body tingled.
Steve laid down on top of me. "I'm sorry I can't do that with you, make you… climax," he whispered, pressing soft kisses along my shoulder. His fingers brushed a lock of my hair out of my face, and I realized it had my own arousal on them.
"You just did," I said, the world around me spinning and with black splotches in my vision.
"No, I meant… at the same time," he said softly.
"It's overrated and only happens in porn," I said softly. "Don't put too much stock into it, okay?"
He groaned, shaking his head.
"I'm going to need another bath," I said softly. "Can you give me one?"
"I don't take baths."
I was unhappy about that, but before I could protest, he picked me up off the mattress and carried me into the bathroom. I felt weightless in his arms. He stood me up in the bathtub in the dim bathroom and I stood there, naked and sweaty and sticky for a second as he warmed up the water in the faucet. "Just a second," he promised, and turned on the shower head. I was hit with cold water for a second, and I shrieked, surprised, but the hot water came on.
The light over the sink came on, but the shower was still dim. I ran my hands over my face and through my hair, pushing the water through it under the spray.
He was so curious about me. And yeah, I was curious about him. The truth was, I was certain I loved him. But he was so careful. This was his first relationship. I was terrified of overwhelming him with too many things and driving him away. How stupid was I, falling in love with a super soldier who lived three hours from me? I started to weep.
Steve pulled the shower curtain. "Dani, what's wrong?" he asked.
"I'm okay," I sobbed, feeling the shower spray wash away my tears.
"Dani?"
"No, not really," I muttered.
The shower curtain gently slipped aside and Steve was shoving his shorts off, climbing into the shower with me, having disposed of the condom. He turned me around by my shoulders, gently.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I'm just… overwhelmed… so many feelings right now," I said softly, looking up into his face. His cheeks were tearstained, too.
"That was intense," he said softly. "I like how intense it is."
"Me too," I said. He dipped his head down to kiss me.
"Remember when you used to make me ask for permission to kiss you?" he asked.
I tried not to laugh, but a giggle escaped my lips as a fresh tear slid down my already wet cheek. "Yeah. When we're alone, you can kiss me any time you want."
"Thanks."
He turned around in the tiny space and picked up my bottle of shampoo.
"Alright, you've got to tell me how to do this. This is another first for me."
"Oh, that's right, you haven't showered with other people before," I said, wiping my eye with the back of my wrist.
"No, communal showering is the norm in the Army."
"Hey, that's kind of hot," I admitted. "You in a shower with a bunch of naked, hot men?"
"Ha. Keep your eyes on the floor tiles, don't get caught looking at anybody. It can get awkward really fast and you risk getting called queer if you do."
He made me laugh again. "Okay, you don't have to squeeze out a lot of shampoo, just amount about silver-dollar sized. I have a lot of hair."
He did as I advised, and his hands worked the mixture into my hair. I sighed at the touch, closing my eyes to enjoy it: I loved him. He made me so happy. "That's it?"
"Mmm-hmm," I agreed as he massaged my scalp. I leaned my head back so the suds didn't get into my eyes. It was incredible loving someone, but also bittersweet that I couldn't say it. "Sorry we didn't get around to doing it with me on all fours just now."
"We've got the rest of the weekend."
"I guess we have a checklist," I said, shrugging, opening my eyes. He leaned me back into the shower spray to rinse the shampoo from my hair. I guided him through the conditioner stage of hair washing, and leaving it in. He washed me with liquid body wash with his hands, massaging me. I sighed and leaned my head back as he kissed along my neck, pressed me against the cold tile wall.
"You're so soft under my hands," he murmured.
He then picked me up and pressed me up against the wall, with all the soap washed off me, holding me steady somehow, my feet off the porcelain tub floor. "It'd be perfect right now," I muttered.
"We can do this… right now?"
"Okay."
And with that, he entered me.
I hadn't protested, but it felt incredible. "Steve…" I punctuated it with a gasp for air.
"Dani…" he groaned. "You feel so good."
"Yes… Oh no!" I cried. "We forgot the condom!"
"One time shouldn't hurt?"
"Pull out before you cum," I said, surrendering. This felt too damn good to stop. My cries echoed off the tile and he proceeded to pull out of me, but his grip loosened. When he pulled out, he set my feet down on the tile floor. I knelt down and took his cock into my hand and helped him come onto my breasts.