[AU] How much - how little - is within our power

[from_the_outside]

 "No," says Sharon, for what feels like the thousandth time. "That's not acceptable."

The rest of the flight had been uneventful, and once they landed she'd been grimly unsurprised to see that Stark had sent Happy Hogan, his erstwhile chauffeur, to guide them to the apartment they've been assigned. Stark himself had apparently gone somewhere to get out of his armor, somewhat mollified by having gotten them here and under his thumb.

Except Sharon won't stop kicking up a fuss.

Hogan stares at her as she inspects each corner of the apartment. "I can't cut these rooms off from the central security protocols," he says, slowly, like he thinks she's just misheard him.

"Well, you can," she tells him. "Or I can force a cascade in a couple load-bearing subroutines that will shut the whole damn thing down. It's your choice."

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[nerves_of_ice]

"Will you let me see you?" he murmurs, between kisses. He shudders as her hand moves over his back, the fingers of her other hand still tangled in his hair, and takes her mouth in a long, sensual slide, tasting her.

"You don't know how hard it was for me to stay completely professional when you stripped your shirt off in front of me in Thessaloniki. I'm a weapon, not dead."

[from_the_outside]

She laughs against his mouth. "Oh yeah? Glad it wasn't just me, then."

At the time she'd been petulant and annoyed and she'd wanted to make him uncomfortable, and only gotten more petulant and annoyed when he didn't react at all. "Yes," she tells him, in answer to his question. "Please."

[nerves_of_ice]

He smiles at that and kisses her again before he sits up and draws her up with him. Bucky lifts the hem of her shirt and pulls upwards, giving her time to raise her arms, drawing it over her head and casting it aside.

His breath rushes in as he looks at her, taking in the way the hallway light falls over her skin. There's a fine tremor in his fingers when he reaches to unhook the catch of her bra and peel it from her.

"You are so beautiful," he murmurs.

[from_the_outside]

She still can't lift her left arm as high as her right, but what she can manage is more than enough for him to pull her shirt off over her head. Goosebumps chase across her skin from the warring sensations of cool air and his body heat; she shivers as he delicately undoes her bra and discards it. "I'm glad you think so."

Her fingers tangle in the hem of his shirt, then slip up beneath it as she palms his side, trembling with the warring forces of desire and restraint. "Can I take this off?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"If you want to," he says, softly. "You don't have to." She's already seen the scarred and ruined flesh of his left shoulder, in Thessaloniki, but this is different.

He leans forward to press a kiss to the hollow of her throat, laving it with his tongue.

[from_the_outside]

She groans at his warm wet mouth against her throat, tips her head back. "I want to," she tells him. "Like you wouldn't believe. You know how many times I've thought about you there in that little kitchen – "

The soft skin and lean muscle revealed as he stripped off his shirt, the warmth of his body under her hand, that small shudder that ran through him, how he watched her face.

Here and now, she lifts the hem of his shirt and encourages him to lift his arms so she can tug it off and discard it who knows where, before running her hands up his chest and over his shoulders. One's warm and firm and the other is cool and hard and she can finally drink him in like she's been dying to do for weeks. "God," she whispers. "You're gorgeous. You absolutely wreck me, Bucky."

[nerves_of_ice]

Trails of fire follow her fingers as sensation rocks him, as her words undo him, leaving him helpless in her hands.

"Sharon," he whispers, his eyes black with desire and unspoken need, his breath ragged and broken. "Sharon." He raises his shaking right hand to cradle her cheek, stroking his thumb over her mouth.

[from_the_outside]

She bites lightly at his thumb and turns her head to press a kiss into his palm, then leans forward to trail gentle kisses along the line of his neck and down to his left shoulder, her mouth soft and warm as she does her best to soothe old, old scars. Her left hand runs up and down his right arm, over his shoulder, down over his chest to his side, skin-hungry.

She can't get enough of him. "I like you," she murmurs, and presses a reverent kiss to his skin. "All of you, Bucky."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Sharon." His body arches, his head falling back as she trails kisses and touches over his skin, before he's able to catch himself. He plunges his hand into her hair, drawing her up again, and takes her mouth in a wild, passionate kiss as he pushes her back onto the bed, following her down.

He kisses her again and again before he starts to work his way with more kisses along the line of her jaw, to her throat, along her pulse, as he presses his body against her, needing to feel her against him.

[from_the_outside]

She whimpers beneath his sudden onslaught, falling back to the bed as her arms go around him, as she pulls him to her as tightly as she can. The only thing she wants to feel is him, his skin against hers, his mouth stealing the air right from her lungs.

Her head pushes back into the pillow as he works his way down along her throat, and she arches up beneath him. One hand skates over the beautiful line of his back and curves over his behind, coaxing him even closer. "God," she swears on what's left of her breath. "Bucky, please."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Yes," he murmurs, his breath warm against her skin as he promises. "Anything. Everything. Yes." All his senses are heightened, his nerves afire, and he pays careful attention to each sound, each whimper, the way she shifts and gasps and reacts to how he touches her.

He eases further down, trailing his fingers over her curves, cupping her breasts, caressing her with his hands before he does the same with his tongue.

[from_the_outside]

She gasps and arches her back, pressing into the warm wet heat of his mouth – oh god, she'll pay for this tomorrow with her ribs but she doesn't care, can't. Her blood's at a hard simmer and all she can feel is him.

And she wants more. Everything.

[nerves_of_ice]

He slides his hands behind her, pressing her up against him as he teases her nipple with his mouth, drawing her in. He shifts to support her with his left hand and brings his right to the waistband of her pants, starting to unfasten them.

[from_the_outside]

She sinks her fingers into his hair and runs a hand over the nape of his neck, shifting in his hold so he can easily loosen the button of her pants and unzip them. "Off," she says, breathless.

"Everything. I want all of you."

[nerves_of_ice]

He peels the rest of her clothes off and follows that with removing his own, then covers her body with his and takes her mouth in another heated kiss. His right hand moves down along her body, tracing a path to her hip.

“Yes?” he murmurs.

[from_the_outside]

She moans against his mouth, shuddering as his hand strokes down over her skin. "Yes."

Her kiss is deep and desperate; air is a dream she once had and can barely remember. "God, Bucky, yes."

She cradles his head in her hands, kisses him again and again, murmurs, "I need you."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shifts, hand at her hip and moving against her, and presses deep inside her with a slow roll of his hips before he draws back and does it again.

Bucky runs his hand back up along her body as he kisses her again and again, need and desire a rising tide between them.

[from_the_outside]

She kisses him hard and sweet, then pushes her forehead against his as he rolls his hips and her eyes squeeze shut. Drawing her feet up, she brackets his hips with her thighs, arches beneath him like an ocean swell.

"Bucky," is a low murmur as her arms go around his neck. "Ah, god, baby."

[nerves_of_ice]

He’s drowning in her scent, her warmth, the feel of her around him, beneath him, as the two of them move together, finding their rhythm, slow at first and then faster. He kisses her like she’s oxygen, like he can’t breathe without her, and it’s not far from the truth.

[from_the_outside]

She rocks with him, her hands restless as they skate over every part of him she can touch; fisting in his hair, painting down his back, curving over his behind and pulling him as close as she can. Her breath is rapid and shallow, her small sounds and half-swallowed cries soft in the quiet room.

[nerves_of_ice]

“Sharon, Sharon, baby—“ He covers her in kisses, with his weight, in touch after caress after stroke of his hand, driving both of them wild as he does.

[from_the_outside]

It feels like she'll die if she can't get even closer. His hands roam over her body, lighting sparks and electrifying nerves and stoking this fire until she thinks they might burn this whole damn place down with the intensity of it. He says her name over and over like a litany, ragged and broken and she wants to sear it into the inside of her ribs. "Oh my god," she gasps.

She's panting for breath, shivering and trembling beneath him as everything starts to crack and crumble, as waves beat through her, inexorable. "Bucky, Bucky."

Her voice is thin and threaded, singed at the edges. "Baby, please, I'm – "

[nerves_of_ice]

"I've got you. I've got you, baby." He pulls her to him, his arm under her, around her, his other hand teasing and stroking wherever he can to draw those soft, wild cries from her. "Sharon, Sharon, god--"

He takes her mouth in a desperate, passionate kiss and rolls his hips again, driving deeper and bringing them closer together still.

[from_the_outside]

"Bucky – "

She goes up like flash paper, sudden and blinding, and if she were able to think, she'd be grateful for the anti-surveillance equipment and the excellent sound-proofing –

But she can't think. Pleasure sears through her like wildfire and she cries out, lost in it, every muscle in her body contracting and shivering as her hips buck restlessly up against him.

[nerves_of_ice]

Her body tightens as pleasure overwhelms her, and that’s all it takes for him to follow her over the edge, a hoarse, raw cry escaping him as he goes, his arms wrapping tight around her and holding her to him.