As the pink light of dawn filters into the room Monday morning, they know their time together is rapidly drawing to a close. There are no hurried movements beneath the sheets this time; no frantic touches or dirty words, no desperate kisses. Words are whispered softly like promises against each other's skin as they move together slowly. He presses into her again and she arches up, meeting every thrust like a well-practiced dance. Steve laces their fingers of one hand together and draws her arm up over her head, holding it gently against the bed as he slips a hand into her hair and trades lazy kisses and slow smiles with her.
"You feel so good," she whispers against his lips, bending her knees up and hooking her feet around the small of his back to draw him deeper. Her fingernails tease over his skin on the back of his neck and down the curve of his jaw. Darcy blinks open sleepy blue eyes to look at him.
"So do you," he murmurs quietly, dropping his lips to hers and slipping his tongue into her mouth.
She cups the side of his face, her kisses growing a little more urgent as they chase their release. He can feel the beginnings of hers as she flutters around him and his hips snap a little harder in response, his free hand gliding down smooth, soft skin to grip her hip. Darcy's free hand seeks purchase on his back and her legs tighten around him, her breaths coming in short gasps against his neck as he drives her closer to the edge. Her body arcs and she keens out his name, her walls clenching hard around him, and after a few more frantic thrusts, he's gone, burying his nose in her hair as he comes.
Darcy runs her hands gently up and down his back as they come down, peppering kisses on his shoulder and neck. "That was…" she trails off and sighs.
Steve kisses her cheek and lifts his head to smile down at her. "It was," he agrees, rubbing his nose gently against hers.
"Do we have to go back to real life?" she pouts.
"Unfortunately," he says and nips at her lips. "We still on for our date?"
"You bet your ass." She grins at him and pulls him down for another kiss.
Steve helps get her truck taken care of and it's in the garage now being worked on. She could've handled it on her own, sure, but it's nice that he insisted on helping and hanging around with her. They're finishing up breakfast at the town diner when he reaches for her phone and keys his number into her contacts. Darcy smiles and does the same, saving her number under Texas before sliding it back over to him. "Where to next?" he asks after the waitress refills their coffee.
"I don't know," she shrugs carelessly and takes a sip of her coffee. "New Orleans probably. You?"
"Great city," he says easily, leaning back against the booth. "I'm headed—" he starts and his phone rings. "To work, I guess," he says frowning down at the display. "Rogers," he answers, his voice suddenly all business. "Yes, sir." He mouths an apology and slides out of the booth to finish the call outside.
Maybe it's silly and a bit stupid to feel sad about their weekend ending when they plan on seeing each other once they're back in the city, but it is what it is. Plans have a way of falling through even when people have the best of intentions, so she's trying not to overthink things. The worst that could happen is they never see each other again, but then she'll always have the memories of a hot and wild weekend spent holed up with a gorgeous man in a little Texas town. The best, well, she doesn't know, but meeting up with him again and going on that date sounds like a really terrific start.
She sips her coffee and watches him through the window. The set of his shoulders is tense and she wonders what kind of job it is that he'll be leaving to do. One he can't talk about, she's sure, given the nature of his work. He stuffs his phone back into the pocket of his jeans and walks back inside. "Real life called?" she asks.
"Yes," he clips and sighs. "I need to go. I have to catch a plane in Dallas."
"Okay," she nods and offers him a smile because it looks like he could use it right now. "I'll buy breakfast."
"Darcy—"
"I insist," she says and grabs the check off the table and heads for the register before he can argue with her.
They don't say anything as they walk outside. She's about to climb on the back of his motorcycle when he puts a hand on her arm and stops her. "Hey," he says softly, pulling her toward him.
"Why is this weird all the sudden?" she laughs nervously, laying her hands on his chest when he wraps his arms around her waist.
Steve shakes his head and gives her a crooked grin. "I don't know, but knock it off," he says lightly. "M' takin' you out when we're back in New York. Count on that."
She feels herself relax and the smile on her face turns flirty. "Can't wait. Thank you—for everything. I had so much fun. And I'm pretty damn glad my truck broke down."
He chuckles at that and grabs the sides of her face, pulling her into a long kiss that she feels from the top of her head all the way to the tips of her toes. She's dizzy from it when he lets her go. "Thank you, Darcy," he murmurs. "This was the best weekend I've ever had."
"All right, soldier. You need to get going."
"Yeah," he nods and slowly unwinds his arms from around her to climb on his bike. She slides on behind him and folds her arms around his waist.
Steve takes her back to the garage and doesn't turn off the engine. He needs to get going and she knows that; there's no point in prolonging this goodbye. She'll see him in a month or so and in the meantime there are more adventures to be had for her trip. She presses her lips against the back of his neck, grinning when goose bumps prickle his skin, and slides off the back of his bike. She slings her bag across her body and kisses him goodbye. "Be safe. I'll see ya soon, Steve."
"See ya soon, Darcy," he grins and kisses her once more. She backs up and lifts a hand, watching him drive away.
The Quinjet's waiting on him when he arrives in Dallas and he grabs his bags off the back of his bike and hurries on board. "Natasha," he grins, nodding slightly as he skirts past the woman to stow his gear.
"James, your boyfriend is here," she calls dryly into the cockpit. Steve snorts out a laugh and turns back, arching an eyebrow at her. "You stopped returning his texts and he was very annoying all weekend."
Bucky emerges from the cockpit and smirks at her. "Worth it for all the ways you shut me up, too, Natalia," he winks.
"She's gonna kick your ass and 'm gonna laugh mine off watching," Steve laughs.
"I know that look," Bucky says pointedly. "You got laid."
Steve looks down at his boots and scrubs a hand over his jaw, unable to fight off the grin that twitches across his face.
"I fuckin' knew it. Good for you."
His phone buzzes in his pocket and he sees a new message from Texas. He laughs and opens it up to read.
Texas: For the record, I can hardly walk today. Worth it. Thank you for a great weekend. XO
He grins again and Bucky snatches the phone from his hand, busting a gut when he reads the message.
"Holy shit, Rogers!" Bucky laughs.
"Holy shit, Rogers, what?" Tony asks as he approaches. "Tell me, tell me, tell me! I wanna know what's going on. Cap, buddy, you look—refreshed."
Bucky tosses the phone to Tony and lets him read Steve's message. Tony looks up in surprise at Steve and back down at the phone. He repeats this process a few times until Steve gets fed up and snatches the phone from his hand. "Well, I do declare, our Captain has taken a lovah," Tony drawls in a ridiculous southern accent.
"Get fucked," Steve grouses, shoving the phone back into his pocket.
"Sounds like you and Texas took damn good care of that already," Bucky snorts and Tony joins in, cackling. Even Natasha has an amused glint in her eye as her lips twitch.
"Shut up," Steve bites out, but it fades into a laugh. "You jerks aren't ruining my good mood today." He turns and heads for his seat.
Tony grins. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I like Cap better after he's gotten some."
"Hold up, Cap got some?" Clint calls, head popping up over one of the seats.
"Welcome to the conversation, Robin Hood," Tony deadpans. "Did you make her call you Captain? Ooh, or Daddy?" There's a collective groan on board and Tony looks around, perplexed. "What?"
"Too far, man," Clint says.
"You always take it too far," Bucky agrees.
Steve just shakes his head. "I'm gonna go read the intel and then take a nap."