america's assassin ➻ steve rogers

nine

When I woke in the morning I felt perfectly content and sore in all the places indicative of being touched in the exact way I'd needed to be touched. I stretched, my sore muscles sighing as the sheet that covered my still naked body fell to my hips and my hand touched hard flesh. I brought it back to my side quickly, hiking the sheet up around my shoulders as I turned to look at Steve who hadn't snuck out afterwards, but had instead fallen asleep. His hair was mussed and from where he lay on his stomach, the sheet down around his lower back, I could see the scratch marks I'd left over his shoulder blades and raked down his impeccable back. I had touched him equally to the way he had touched me, it seemed. I reached out and shoved him in the shoulder, the moan he gave when he stirred doing something to my body. He was slow to move but finally he opened one blue eye, then the other, and seemed to remember exactly where he was.

"Some guard you are," I said. His brows furrowed, still confused, as he ran a hand through his hair. He turned over, sitting up against the pillows and let the sheet fall around his hips. I bit down hard on my lip at the sight of his chest, the coiled muscles in his arms and stomach.

"Did you die?" He drawled back, sarcastic. I rolled my eyes. Something excited me about the less than thrilled sentence that left his mouth, nothing would change between us after the night we'd shared. Sure, my mouth was watering as I looked at his body and I kind of wanted to climb him again, but that was only expected. I hadn't done anything like that in six years. But at least we seemed free of falling for each other.

"Would you have even noticed?" I replied, flipping my hair over one shoulder. Steve seemed momentarily distracted, glancing down at the bare piece of throat and collarbone I'd just exposed, realising that underneath the thin sheet was nothing but naked skin.

"Yeah, Mia," He said, voice low. "I would have noticed." A shiver rolled down my spine at his words accompanied by the way he looked at me.

"Don't do that," I said quickly, ignoring the excited shiver that was just a byproduct of my being attracted to him, not the words he spoke.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Don't say things like that," I instructed. "It makes it sound like you care and that is explicitly against the rules." Steve huffed a laugh and settled further into the pillows, humour dancing in his eyes.

"Funnily enough, it does matter to me whether you live or die." He grinned as I opened my mouth to argue. "But caring about you wasn't what I meant." He stared pointedly at me, his eyes roaming down again to where my hands clutched the sheet against my body. The shiver came back, accompanied by heat that started to unfurl in my core. He'd meant it because he was attracted to me, too, not because he cared. I resisted heaving a relieved sigh.

"Good," I said. "Because no strings." Humour still danced in his eyes.

"I understand." He glanced over at the digital alarm clock on the side table. "I should go." Suddenly every part of me wanted to reach out and get him to stay.

"You don't have to," I said quickly as he started to move from the bed. He paused and looked back at me with a raised brow.

"Why?" I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, Cap. I'm not going to say it." But I shifted up onto my knees anyway to get closer to him. As the heat only grew hotter in my core, I probably would admit that I wanted him to stay. He seemed to realise the same thing, and a wicked smile lit up his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," He lied.

"You're insufferable," I huffed.

"Bye, Mia," He said, moving further from the bed. I reached out and grabbed hold of one strong shoulder, swallowing my pride because I wanted to feel good and forget a little while longer.