[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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[from_the_outside]

"You," she says, soft, feeling like she's under a spell. She winds herself around him as best she can, arms around his neck, legs hitching up around his waist, an ankle hooking over his.

"I just want you."

[nerves_of_ice]

"You have me," he promises, and kisses her neck again as he draws one hand up along her side. As his fingers skate lightly over her ribs, he realizes his weight might strain her injury, and wraps his arm around her instead and twists them around, ending up on his back with her on top of him.

[from_the_outside]

She laughs, breathless, as he shifts them, and sinks her fingers into his hair, pulling herself up along his body to press kiss after kiss to his mouth. She feels drunk on him; she has just enough self-awareness left to know that this is dangerous, too much of a gamble, that she never should have let herself fall this far.

But she doesn't care. He's warm and yielding and he wants her back, and she wants to give him everything, anything he might want to ask for.

[nerves_of_ice]

He groans as she moves, her body a lithe, curvy line against his, and arches up against her as he kisses her back.

"You have me," he manages, again, skimming his hands along her sides, down her back, tracing his fingers over the hem of her shirt. "However you want me."

[from_the_outside]

She pauses and settles for a second to look down at him, her fingers toying with his loose hair, her elbows bracketing his head, shivering a little as he traces the lines of her body.

How much does that mean, coming from a man who has been used every which way against his will, to put himself in her hands, even knowing that she's almost certainly going to have to betray that trust?

More than she knows what to do with. She leans down to kiss him gently, then presses soft kisses to his neck, his throat, his temple. "Same goes, baby," she promises as she lifts her head again, as she kisses his mouth sweet and simple before her smile flashes, teasing and brilliant.

"I want you here," she tells him. "And I want you to touch me like you did last night."

She leans down to run the edges of her teeth lightly over the curve of his ear, and whispers: "Everywhere."

[nerves_of_ice]

A hard shudder runs through his whole body at the feel of her teeth on his skin, and his back arches like a bow, pressing him up against her. Bucky plunges his right hand into her hair and turns his head to capture her mouth with his, kissing her again and again before he shifts, sitting up and taking her with him as he does, ending up with her straddling his hips.

He pulls her shirt off and unfastens her bra with quick motions, flinging them aside, then leans forward and sets his mouth to her breast, drawing her nipple in and teasing it with his tongue. With his left hand he shapes the curve of her other breast, the metal of his fingers smooth and cool against her skin as he traces every curve, every texture.

[from_the_outside]

She shivers and shakes and arches against him with a small cry, pressing into his warm mouth and his cool hand as the dual sensations rocket through her.

"God," she murmurs, her eyes blown huge and dark. "Bucky."

[nerves_of_ice]

He hums against her, sending a vibration through her skin, and runs his right hand down her neck, over her shoulder, and over her body, caressing and teasing while he continues what he's doing with his mouth and left hand.

Bucky reaches her waist, finally, unfastens her pants and works the zipper down, then starts to slide them over her hips. "Raise up," he murmurs.

[from_the_outside]

She pushes herself up as requested, her hands light on his shoulders, and stands to let him tug the pants down so she can kick them off once they get to her ankles.

Leaning forward, she tugs at his shirt, need and desire beating through her blood like a drum. "Off," she says, breathless.

[nerves_of_ice]

He makes a soft wordless sound of reluctance - it's bright in this room, unlike the dim light of her bedroom the night before, and Thessaloniki had been under different circumstances - but he doesn't resist beyond that.

Bucky leans up to kiss her, then pulls back long enough to strip out of his shirt before he sets his hands at her waist and waits.

[from_the_outside]

She's determined to banish that reluctance, the worry, and as soon as he's dropped the shirt she settles back onto his lap, straddling his hips and running her hands up along the warm planes of his stomach and chest, then over his shoulders.

"You are so beautiful," she says, leaning to nuzzle reverent kisses along the curve of his neck, soothing old scars with light touches of her fingers. "God, Bucky, you drive me crazy."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shudders again at the touch of her hands, wrapping his left arm around her waist as he turns his face into her hair. "I'm not," he murmurs. "I know I'm not. It's okay."

[from_the_outside]

She shakes her head and continues pressing kisses into his skin, soft and sweet. "Yes, you are," she tells him, absolutely certain. "When I see you it's like..."

She kisses that spot where his neck and shoulder meet, the one that drives her crazy, even though it doesn't do the same to him. She doesn't have the words for this, but she tries anyway. "Like diving into cool water on a hot day."

Beautiful. God, but he is. Scars and metal arm and weary eyes and all. "I get shivers all over."

[nerves_of_ice]

His next breath is ragged, and he kisses her hair, her temple, her cheek.

“Hold on to me,” he murmurs, and stands, carrying her with him. Supporting her with his left arm, cradling her close, he uses his right hand to unfasten and shed his own pants.

[from_the_outside]

She wraps her arms around his neck and winds her legs around his waist and clings to him as requested. There's no fear of falling; he's more than strong enough to hold her here without losing his grip.

[nerves_of_ice]

He holds her close and draws his right hand down her back, tracing the line of her spine, then slides his palm over the curve of her hip, cupping under her rear and teasing her center with his fingertips as he kisses her again, deep and passionate.

[from_the_outside]

She makes a low, half-desperate sound against his mouth and tightens her arms and legs, shivering against him at each light touch.

[nerves_of_ice]

He presses further into her warmth while he keeps kissing her, making sure she’s ready before he takes them back down to the sofa, with her straddling him still as he rolls his hips up with agonizingly deliberate control, pushing into her.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon sighs, making a small contented sound, and kisses him again before she loosens her arms from around his neck and presses her forehead to his, shaking and shaking under his hands as she settles onto him, in his lap, until he's as deep as he can go.

She rocks a little against him, uncaring of the tightness in her side, and slips her fingers up into his hair. "God," is a low moan, singed at the edges. "Bucky."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Sharon,” he murmurs, rolling his hips again as he strokes his hands over her body, caressing and exploring every inch, every spot that makes her shiver. “Sharon, baby, yes.”

[from_the_outside]

She whimpers and tightens her fingers in his hair as she kisses him again, deep and seeking. "God," she says, when she has enough breath.

"Anything. Anything."

[nerves_of_ice]

Every small sound, every restless and needing plea, the way she kisses him and pulls at his hair and the throaty sound of her voice, it’s all a storm raging through him, lashing him with desire.

“Let me—“ He stops talking in favor of kissing her again as he settles both hands at her hips, holding her as he drives upward with more strength now, rocking her against him.

[from_the_outside]

"Yes," she tells him.

Her hair fell loose of its ponytail some time ago; now it spills over her shoulders in golden waves as she kisses him and gives up control, letting him grip her hips and move against and in her while waves build up, tightening low in her stomach.

[nerves_of_ice]

She’s glorious, all golden hair and creamy skin, warm and lovely and sweet, and he thinks he could lose himself forever in her.

Bucky kisses her mouth again and then shifts, pressing his lips to the spot at the base of her neck that she seems to like so well as he rocks with her.

[from_the_outside]

The kiss in the crook of her neck pulls a groan from deep in her chest, and she feels like she's shattering at the edges with every new press of his hips. With the way she's pulled into his lap, each rock against him brings a shock of pleasure.

His name is a soft litany she presses along with her mouth and nose into his hair, her voice thoughtless and ragged as she calls him baby and sweetheart and says his name over and over again like a prayer. He's around and in her and she's sinking into him, drowning without a single care in the world.