Chapter 41.

Three chapters in two days? What's going on, I hear you cry?

I want to get this finished. And it WILL be finished by Christmas because I am writing a Christmas finale scene which WILL be posted on Christmas Day (Australian time, so possibly Christmas Eve for some of the rest of you).

Merry Christmas. You're welcome.

Skye couldn't move. Literally could not move. Steve had made good on his promise on fucking her until she couldn't walk – with her very enthusiastic consent, and indeed encouragement, Skye had to concede. Four more times he'd taken her, using his strength to move her into positions that would have been impossible for any other man, each time careful to ensure that she found her own pleasure before taking his.

Right now he was in the bathroom, running a bath in the huge spa tub, which Skye was very much going to need. She felt wrung-out, exhausted in the best possible way, aching in very unfamiliar places. She grinned wearily to herself. Who could have guessed that the upright, moralistic Captain America could be such an animal in the sack?

Guilt consumed Steve as he returned to the bedroom and saw Skye sprawled out on the bed, her eyelids drifting. "Come on, sweet girl," gently he lifted her into his arms. "Let's get you washed."

"Umm." Skye retained enough presence of mind to twist her hair up into a loose knot on top of her head as he stepped into the tub and lowered them both in, sitting down and settling her between his legs, her back against his chest.

Steve soaped a washcloth and gently began to wash Skye. He hadn't missed her slight hiss of pain as he lowered her into the hot water. He'd used her too hard, he berated himself silently. Taken too much. What an idiot he'd been; he'd thrown away his one chance with Skye by being a selfish, greedy bastard. She wouldn't want anything to do with him after this.

His train of thought was temporarily derailed by Skye turning her head and kissing the hollow of his throat. "Skye?" he said a bit uncertainly. "Are you all right?"

"Amazing," she sighed. "Feel amazing. Want to sleep in your arms and then wake up and do that all over again."

"You do?" the surprised note in his voice had her opening her eyes, pulling away and turning to get a good look at his face.

"Why on earth would I not want a repeat performance?" she asked, bemused. "That was the best sex of my life!" If she wasn't so exhausted she'd be all over him like a rash even now, because he looked gorgeous sitting there in the water, all wet golden muscle, his blond hair damp and slicked back, blue eyes shining.

"I thought," he gestured at her uncertainly, "I mean, you're exhausted, and obviously sore…"

"Yeah, but it's the really good kind of exhausted and sore," Skye cut him off. "Trust me, after this bath and a good night's sleep – and probably some food – I'll be begging for more again by morning." She smiled at him, crawled back into his lap and reached up for a kiss.

"I thought I'd done too much," Steve muttered, red-faced. "That you'd want to leave and not see me again…"

"Not unless you're kicking me out."

"Definitely not!" His arms tightened around her, though he was careful to control his strength. "Definitely not."

"Good." Skye settled down against him again. "Now can you get JARVIS to order some food? I'm tired but I really should eat before I sleep, and you should definitely fuel up," she elbowed him in the stomach gently.

"What would you like?" Steve inquired. "JARVIS has every restaurant within ten blocks on speed-dial, and Tony even has a guy on staff whose job it is to go collect so we don't have to wait on their delivery schedule."

"Of course he does," Skye shook her head. "Um – pizza?"

"Sounds good. How do you like it?"

"Everything but anchovies."

Steve spoke to JARVIS and ordered the food; Skye was mildly freaked out briefly, feeling as though they were being observed in this very private moment, but Steve, sensing her tension, assured her that there were no cameras, only JARVIS's audio pickup and some heat sensors to monitor his well-being in his apartments, and JARVIS certainly wasn't recording them or anything like that. The AI would respond only when he was addressed directly, and would call Steve's attention otherwise only in emergencies.

"It's still vaguely creepy," Skye muttered as Steve lifted her from the bath, swathing her gently in a huge, fluffy towel.

"I thought so too at first but I soon got used to it. Honestly he's very convenient, I do understand why someone as busy as Tony decided to build him."

A chime from JARVIS announced the pizza delivery; Steve left Skye to finish drying herself and went to collect.

Skye barely managed to chew her way through two slices of pizza before her eyelids were drifting again. Seeing Steve still plowing through the pizza she told him to finish eating and headed off to brush her teeth before bed, grimacing at the way she had to walk bow-legged due to her aching hips and thighs. She found a pack of ibuprofen in her toiletry bag and took a couple with a grin, thinking that sex with a super-soldier was not a reason she'd ever anticipated needing them for.

Skye was sound asleep by the time Steve came to join her. She'd pulled on his discarded T-shirt from earlier and lay curled up on the bed, a compact sleeper. She'd have to be, he thought, remembering the size of those tiny sleeping cubicles on the Bus. She didn't stir when he lay down beside her and pulled her into his arms. It was blissfully quiet; Thor wasn't in the Tower tonight and Clint and Jemma had stopped making noises a little while ago.

Steve drifted off to sleep with Skye curled against his chest.

He woke at his usual early hour with Skye still asleep on him. Gently, he eased her off, but she was still deeply asleep and didn't stir. The pale early light of dawn was just beginning to creep through the windows, and she looked beautiful in his bed, the white sheets tangled around her. He couldn't resist slipping quietly out of bed and going to fetch his sketchbook and pencil.

Skye woke alone in the huge bed. Almost automatically, she reached out her hand for Steve, but the other side of the sheets was cold. He'd been gone some time. Her fingers encountered the crackle of paper and she lifted it and blinked blearily before her eyes opened wide with astonishment.

It was a drawing of her, but as she'd never seen herself, her face relaxed and peaceful, one stray lock of hair spilling over her cheek. Simply executed, it was utterly beautiful. There was no signature, but at the bottom Steve had written;

"I wish I could wake up to this lovely sight every morning. SR."

He'd probably gone for a run or something, but left this for her before he did. Skye clutched the drawing to her and fell asleep again with a smile on her face.

"JARVIS, is Skye awake?" Steve asked, re-entering the Tower after his run. He manfully ignored Bucky just behind him, who snorted with laughter.

"She awoke briefly earlier, sir, but her breathing and movement patterns indicate she is asleep again," JARVIS responded after a moment.

"Okay, do you have her breakfast preferences on record? I might take her breakfast in bed. Shut up, James." Steve elbowed Bucky, who was outright chortling now, in the ribs.

"Stevie's got it baaaaad," Bucky – who still couldn't bear the name, but Steve struggled to think of him as James, even though he was careful to call him that – sing-songed at him.

"Yes I do, what of it?"

"Skye and Stevie, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…"

"What are you, five?" but Steve was secretly pleased to see him smiling and laughing. He'd let Buck tease him all he wanted just to see that smile on his face again.

"Well, I hope you're gonna treat her like a lady, punk," James said, suddenly serious, as they entered the gym heading for the showers. "Do the right thing by her now."

"T'ain't the forties any more, Bu-James. Girls don't expect a ring once they've, uh, put out."

"Steven Grant Rogers, if your mother could only hear you now!"

"I'm not saying I don't want to get serious with Skye!" Steve defended himself from James's censuring gaze. "Just that if I asked her to marry me or somethin' this early she'd prob'ly think I was cracked in the head!"

"Fair 'nuff," James said, and then turned to look Steve straight in the eyes. "Just make sure you don't leave her hanging, or in any doubt where she stands with you. That's no way to treat a lady."

It was probably significant, Steve thought as he washed away the sweat from his run, that Bucky called Skye a lady, not a dame or a doll. It showed significant respect, even from their one brief meeting she'd obviously made an impression.

Well, it hadn't taken her long to make an impression on him either, had it? Steve smiled to himself. Not long at all. Skye was special, he'd known that from their first meeting. And right now she was upstairs asleep in his bed. He felt himself getting hard again at the thought and sternly told his body to behave. Likely Skye would be way too stiff and sore this morning for him to make love to her again, much though he longed to. Well, he'd pamper her as she deserved instead.

Skye woke to the heavenly scent of bacon wafting under her nose, and discovered that Steve had brought her a delicious breakfast and a huge mug of coffee. She ate happily, and afterwards thanked him for the lovely drawing of her.

Steve flushed a little bit, taking Skye's tray off the bed. "I wanted you to know how I see you. And also not to think that I'd just left…"

"I get it." She put her hand on his arm, smiling warmly. "You don't need rest the way I do. You'd have been pretty bored lying here watching me snore."

"You don't snore," Steve said automatically, smiling when he saw her teasing grin. He picked a bit nervously at a loose thread on the cuff of his shirt. "Skye – look, I don't know how this stuff works in the modern world, I really don't. Back in my day if a girl spent the night with a guy – well, she wouldn't have spent the night with a guy unless they were engaged or seriously courting, but I don't want to push you into anything or make assumptions…"

Skye sorted through the confused tangle of statements. "Are you asking me if I want to go steady with you?" she bit back a giggle at the old-fashioned phrase, not wanting to upset him.

"Yes!" Steve said in relief. "I want you to be my girl. And I want us to be exclusive – is that the right word?"

"That's the right word." Skye smiled. "Yes."

"Yes, you will?"

"Yes, I will. After last night, I'm not sure how anyone else could compare, anyway."

He was quite clearly resisting the urge to kiss her senseless for that statement, so Skye removed his will to resist by whipping off the T-shirt she was wearing and crawling into his lap.

"On the other hand," she purred, "I might need a little more persuading that you're the man for me…"

Ohhh, I reckon Steve could be pretty persuasive if he put his mind to it, don't you?

And BTW I am going to refer to Bucky as James or Barnes from now on. It's too confusing having them call him one name and referring to him by another.