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It’s just a job, she told herself. Trying so hard to convince herself that this would go smoothly. How could it though? She was the target of the most terrifying assassin of the century and she was supposed to kidnap him before he killed her. Yeah, this would go great.
A party, of all places. The kind with flutes of champagne and women in beautiful gowns. Somehow, he managed to fit in seamlessly with his tailored suit and his hair brushed back from his face. He wore a leather glove on one hand, his left hand. The Winter Soldier.
Just a job.
She caught his eye from across the ballroom, a long red satin dress was hard to miss. He held her gaze while he took a sip from his glass and she blushed and looked down and away. It wasn’t hard to play coy under his beautiful and intense stare. Glancing at him one last time, she turned back to the small group of women she was small-talking with. A few minutes in to the most boring and pretentious story she’d heard in her life, the other women all looked over her shoulder. He was behind her, she knew it before they all looked up. Turning slightly, she saw him there with a small grin that she never would have expected on this hardened killer’s lips.
“Could I bother you for a dance?” his voice was low and he held out his hand without taking his eyes off hers.
“It’d be no bother at all,” she smiled and took his hand, his right hand.
They swayed around the floor in a slow dance and he held her a little closer than should be appropriate for strangers, and she didn’t mind at all.
“Are you here with anyone?”
“No, just with some friends,” she replied, nodding to the group of women she barely knew, “You?”
“No, same situation,” he looked down into her eyes again and half of a smile pulled at his lips, “Definitely don’t mind… now that I’m dancing with the most stunning woman here,”
She didn’t have to fake the blush in her cheeks, “Do you say that to every stranger you dance with?” she smirked.
“Only beautiful strangers,” he pulled her a little closer into his chest. One hand rested on the small of her back and the other held one of her hands, while her free hand gripped his shoulder near his neck. Between the champagne and his hypnotizing blue eyes, she really hoped he’d wait until morning to try to kill her.
After a few more drinks and a lot more dancing, they stood, only swaying slightly with her head on his chest while he hummed in her ear. She made him… feel. He wasn’t sure what, but she made him feel something other than pain, and that was something he hadn’t done in at least sixty years. Her big deep brown eyes made him forget why he was here in the first place, and her perfectly curved lips made him not care. The deep “V” in the front of her scarlet dress was only held shut by a small gold chain across her cleavage and it made him a little short of breath. The slit up to her hip on one side made him dizzy. There was an even deeper “V” in the back of her dress, ending just above the curve of her butt. When he’d trail his fingers along the skin exposed there, she would shiver and bite her lip, making it pink before her tongue would swipe out to moisten her lips.
Damn, he wanted to kiss her. When was the last time he was able to actually want something for himself? They weren’t overly specific on how they wanted the job done… just a deadline. Maybe he could give into wanting for a night.
“My hotel is just two blocks away,” she whispered breathlessly when he slipped his hand inside the back of her dress.
He groaned something that sounded like, “Oh, thank god,” in her ear, before taking her hand in the crook of his arm and walking out to the lobby with her. She grabbed her golden clutch bag off her table as they walked by.
Outside her hotel room door as she pulled out the key, he stood close behind her with his hands on her hips while he kissed her shoulder softly. Once inside the room she turned her back to him as she unclipped the gold chain at the front of her dress, letting each side slip off her shoulders exposing every inch of skin from her hips up. She could hear his breath shake as he moved his fingertips down her spine in a feather-light touch. Kissing gently along her neck, he delicately pulled the clip out of her hair, letting the dark brown waves fall over her shoulders. She tilted her head to give his lips more room and she took his right hand from her hip and brought it to her lips for a kiss before placing it over her breast.
“Touch me,” she breathed, and he did exactly as she said. Hands skimmed along every inch of her that he could reach. Barely any pressure… just enough to have her breathing fast and shaking in his arms.
Finally, she turned around and he was only able to admire her for a moment before her fingers tangled in his hair and pulled his lips to hers. They kissed slowly, he was the opposite of what she expected. She had imagined rough and fast, but this slow and passionate was even better. Hell, if he kept up this soft teasing she could cum before he ever really touches her. His hands pushed her dress down over her hips and it fell around her feet before he picked her up and walked to place her on the bed. He shrugged out of the suit jacket and unbuckled his belt and pants before dropping to his knees and pulling her to the edge of the bed by her legs. His bright blue eyes stayed locked with her deep brown ones as he kissed along her thighs and lower stomach. A soaking lace thong was pulled down her legs slowly before he hooked her knees over his shoulders and grasped her hips. He watched her as he made the first slow lick across her heat. Her eyes slipped shut as her mouth fell open with a sigh. With a stronger swipe of his tongue, her head fell back and she made the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. The softest, most feminine moan, and it made him even harder than he already was.
He toyed with her; sucking hard and slow, or with fast, feather light flicks of his tongue. She was writhing for him, gripping at his hair as she rolled her hips into his mouth. Her legs were shaking around his head and he could probably cum just listening to the sounds she made.
“I – I’m close. So close,” she breathed.
He moaned against her clit, making her whimper, “Come for me, sugar,” he closed his lips around her and kept a quick steady pace. He was mesmerized by the rise and fall of her breasts with each of her gasping breaths. By the way her back arched up off the bed as her legs clenched around his head and shoulders. By the way her beautiful lips fell open with a silent scream as she came against his lips. Feeling and watching her orgasm had him hard enough to cut diamonds as he pushed his pants and underwear off before sliding up her quivering naked body. Her lips crashed into his for a breathless kiss before she pulled back slightly.
“I’m on the pill… as long as you’re clean,”
He nodded with his forehead against hers while he pushed into her slowly. His slow steady movements were tearing her apart faster than she’d ever experienced. He was gentle and loving and not assassin-like in the slightest. He kissed her forehead and her shoulders and her neck softly, whispering that she was so good, so beautiful, so perfect.
“Not gunna last, baby doll,” he groaned into her neck, speeding up slightly.
He seemed to take the words right out of her mouth, so she grabbed his hair and let her lips brush his ear, “Come with me, please, come with me,” she whimpered.
A shiver went through him with her voice in his ear, and he fell apart moments later with deep, breathy, open-mouthed moans. When he collapsed into her, with her still shaking legs around his waist and her high-pitch soft moans in his ear… he felt again.
She rubbed his back, the right side, because she knew. She knew what was to the left and she knew he wouldn’t want to be touched there… he’d barely touched her with that hand. Winding his arms around her, he carried her up the bed to rest her head in the pillows before he fell to lay beside her… but still half on her. She didn’t mind, he was warm. And completely contrary to what she knew he was there for… with his strong arms around her and his hot breath on her shoulder, she felt safe.
Hours later, the first rays of sunlight were peeking through the billowing white curtains. He woke from sleeping on his back, her bare skin still pressed into his right side and, for some reason, he found himself smiling before he shook it off. Her head rested against his chest and her arm was wrapped around his waist. She sighed in her sleep while he watched her eyes dart beneath her eyelids. Thick dark lashes rested against softly flushed cheeks. Those absolutely perfect pink lips parted slightly when she sighed, letting him feel the heat of her breath.
He should be gone by now. The job should be done and he should be on his way across the country. For whatever crazy reason, he couldn’t bring himself to move just yet. He could feel her heartbeat against the side of his chest. He noticed he was matching his breathing to hers. Every twitch of her fingers, clutching a little tighter onto the half-unbuttoned shirt he still wore, made him feel again.
For the first time he could remember,
He didn’t want to do this job.
She heard him stir, getting out of bed and going to the bathroom. When he came back out, he kept his back to her as he silently went through her dresser, finding one of her guns. But by the time he turned around she was already sitting up in bed with the gun from under the pillow trained on his half naked form. He fought the warmth in his chest at the sight of her wild sleep hair that fell around her shoulders to the top of her still bare breasts. He pinched his eyes shut as his eyebrows pushed together.
“I don’t wanna do this,” he whispered, not thinking she could hear.
“You don’t have to,” was her reply. He looked up at her quickly with a look of confusion.
“I know I’m your mission,” she explained softly, but she didn’t lower her weapon, “You’re mine… My mission is to save you, Soldier,”
“Save me?” his voice was rough and apprehensive.
“Yes, I can give you a way out. You just have to trust me,” with that she smiled and spoke softer, “Like I trusted you to sleep in bed beside me,”
Just a job. Just a job. A mission. She’s my mission. His mind was screaming, but under all that yelling was a calmer voice. You can feel again. Feel free again. You’re not a weapon and she’s not a mission. Let her save you.
“I can’t,” he whispered, looking down at the gun that shook in his hand. He set the gun down on the dresser and got dressed again, turning to leave. Her gun now rested in her lap.
“Sargent Barnes!” she called, and even though he didn’t know that name, he turned back, “We both know what they’ll do to you if you don’t complete your mission. Please, if you aren’t going to come with me… finish your mission,” her voice cracked and when fear and confusion warped his face, she spoke softly and looked down, “Because I don’t want to live knowing I let this happen to you,”
His face turned stern and focused while he slowly walked around the bed to sit beside her, facing her. He took her face in his hands and she closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable snap of her neck. It never came. Warm lips touched hers gently before kissing her forehead.
“I won’t,” he whispered. After one last kiss, he was gone.
Six years later, Steve Rogers found his best friend. A little rough, a little more jagged… but his best friend all the same. Bucky was supposed to meet the rest of the team that day, so he was making his way down the hall with Steve and Sam. He heard a laugh from a room up ahead. A laugh he’d heard before and couldn’t forget no matter how hard Hydra tried to take it from him.
She stood, leaning against the back of a couch while she talked to her best friend. Her back was to the door. This gorgeous redhead knew all about her night with the super soldier. Natasha looked past her, at the door, with a knowing smile.
The second he came through the door he knew it was her. It had to be. The dark waves of hair and the curve of her hips. The sound of her laugh as she talked with Romanoff. That woman was always the first thing he remembered, every time they let him out to thaw. When Natasha smirked, the woman facing away from him turned around. He watched the smile fade from her lips as her jaw dropped and her brown eyes went wide. He didn’t move, only watched as she slowly made her way around the couch and toward him. Every other person in the room was quiet and moved silently out of the way. She stopped a few steps in front of him, her eyebrows pulled together as her mouth opened and closed, trying to find words but only making short sounds. He smiled slightly at her, and the moment he did, she ran toward him. Throwing her arms around his neck, he chuckled and stumbled back a step, clinging to her just as tightly. She was giggling and sniffing back tears as she pulled away to look at him.
“Hey, you,” she whispered, touching his cheek.
“Hey, beautiful stranger,”