Gold to Airy Thinness Beat

Chapter Twenty-Two

Stephanie finished towel drying her hair and straightened, flipping the still damp mass behind her. She gathered it up and secured it into its standard high ponytail and then kicked the towel out of the way beside the toilet.

She slid her shoes on, tugged the hem of her shirt to straighten it and then went back into the main room.

Bucky was sprawled on his back in her bed, sound asleep. He had one arm under the pillow and the other draped across the blankets, which were tangled at his waist. He still had his dog tags on as Stephanie had decided she liked how they looked on him.

Stephanie leaned against the wall across from him and watched him, chewing idly on her thumbnail as she did. He looked so much younger when he was asleep. Hell, he was young. They both were, a fact she managed to forget at times and sincerely hoped her detractors always forgot. To them it was bad enough she was a woman, realizing she was barely in her twenties would not help her case.

Her eyes focused on Bucky's chest as it rose and fell in even breaths. Bucky. James Buchanan Barnes. Her best friend, and her husband.

She was married.

Granted, she'd technically been married but it had never seemed real before. For the most part she hadn't thought about it, had managed to forget it entirely a time or two. The marriage hadn't even been legitimate. They had gotten the license and done the ceremony but she hadn't meant her vows and the marriage had never been consummated.

Now...now she was married.

She had a husband, and he was someone who'd been by her side her entire life.

Huh.

She pushed off the wall and approached the bed. She wound around the end of it and climbed onto the mattress next to her husband. She laid down with her head on his chest and one hand resting lightly just over his heart. It beat steadily under her hand and she relaxed, allowing her eyes to close.

She wasn't sure how long she dozed before the sound of a knock at the door startled her. Her eyes snapped open and she gasped in surprise, her heart jolting in her chest.

"What's wrong?" Bucky's voice asked, moving instantly from asleep to wide awake.

"Someone at the door," Stephanie said, still trying to orient herself. She pushed up, keeping her hand on his chest and looked down at him. "Go answer it."

He raised an eyebrow, one hand coming up to lazily play with loose tendrils of her hair. "Why do I have to answer it? You're the one dressed."

Stephanie leaned down and kissed him, quite slowly and very thoroughly. She felt his arm slide under the hem of her shirt, his fingers splaying across her lower back and causing her skin to tingle where he was touching her.

She broke off and kissed him on the tip of his nose. "Up. Door. Answer."

Bucky groaned in resignation and rolled his eyes. He nudged her off him and flung the blankets off. Stephanie saw him grimace as the colder air of the room hit him and he rolled quickly to sit on the edge of the bed, reaching down to grab his pants off the floor. "Anyone ever mention you're bossy?"

He stood up, pulling his pants up and buckling his belt. Stephanie let herself fall onto the mattress. She yawned and stretched, arching her back and linking her hands over her head. "Anyone ever mention you're distracting when you're naked?"

He laughed, and grinned at her. He headed for the door and Stephanie started to relax, her eyes drifting closed again.

A split second later they snapped open as realization hit. She sat up and frantically hissed, "Wait! Stop!"