Note:18+ content
I might be dreaming. I might be in heaven.
Steve woke up with an appetite, and I get waken up by insisting lips tracing every inch of my skin. I do not even open my eyes, I just let him do whatever his mind has set to, and that is getting under the sheets, part my legs, and start devouring my pussy.
I moan lowly, barely a whisper, as he laps his tongue over my entrance up to my clit, and caresses the inside of thighs, down to my ankle and back. The callouses on his hands adding to the ticklish sensation his touch leaves behind.
Steve dives his fingers inside me, one at first, discovering how wet I am for him, before he adds two more, making me feel almost as full as I do when his cock is inside.
His mouth moves up again, kisses the peak of my breast over my camisole, up my collarbone, then to my earlobe.
"Good morning Princess." His voice is husky, low.
I give him a moan in response.
"I know you are very awake." He kisses right behind my ear, then licks the silhouette of it with the tip of his tongue, never breaking the steady pace of his fingering. "Did you sleep well?"
I nod yes.
His thumb starts to press over my clit in circular motions, and my back arches off the mattress, a moan that sounds more like a howl escaping my lips.
Steve increases the speed of his trusting hand.
I search for his mouth, turning my head towards his, and find those lush lips of his. My hips start to move, fucking myself on his fingers, my tongue asking his to dance, my teeth nibbling on the corner of his lower lip.
His own breathing is ragged, I can feel how hard he is and I take his free hand and guide it into his pants, wanting him to jerk off for me, my hand right over his.
He does it hard and fast, pre-cum already leaking from the head.
I am close, so close.
I open my eyes now and find his. I see the expression full of lust, pleasure, and love. It is what makes me come undone for the first orgasm. The way my walls clench around his fingers have him groaning.
"Yes Princess, keep coming, keep coming." He says.
And so I do; once, twice...
As I am hitting my third orgasm, Steve finally climaxes too, spilling his warm sperm on our hands.
Not wanting it to go to waste, I pull my head back and up to my mouth, and I clean it with my tongue while smiling at him.
"Tasty." I say.
"You are so damn gorgeous." He growls as he pushes me down on the bed and kisses me. He hovers over me, peering down at my face. "I have to go on a mission. It shouldn't take more than a few hours."
"Is it serious?"
"Not if I can help it." He caresses my cheek. "Is a recovering mission, valuable target. I should get going."
I kiss him again.
"Go and be a hero." I playfully push him off me.
"And you." He kisses my forehead before getting out of the bed. "You go and nail this interview."
.... .... ...
I am so nervous my stomach hurts. I watch the elevator numbers change as we pass floor after floor, until it stops at 107. It opens, and I am at Stark Industries Head Quarters Offices.
In the last two months I have gone through three different assessments, two interviews, and a polygraph test. All to land me here.
I walk to the front desk where a young man in a tailor suit is typing away at an unbelievable speed. Everywhere I see there are people on phones, computers, tablets, coming and going, coexisting in this place with machine like precision.
"Hi, I have an appointment with Miss Potts at 11." I say, with my most confident voice on.
"Yes of course, give me a second, please." He answers, looking me up and down, assessing me. "Miss Potts, I have Miss Hernandez here for her appointment." He speaks into a device I cannot see. "Alright, right away." He comes around his desk. "Miss Potts is ready for you."
I follow him to the office. To be honest, after the two months long hiring process, I didn't believe I could make it here, I am either about to be let down easy or given the opportunity of a lifetime. Whatever it is, I don't feel ready for it.
"Alex, come in!" Pepper dresses in a sleek black dress and Louboutin pumps.
"Good morning," my nerves are getting the best of me, I remind myself to breath, it's okay, everything will be fine.
"Sit down, Ernesto, would you be so kind ask Kira if she could bring us some coffee?"
I hadn't noticed the guy was still standing there.
"Yes, of course." Ernesto turns on his heels and closes the door behind him.
There is a lounging area, and I sit on a corner of the sofa, and Pepper sits on the armchair next to me.
"How have you been?" she asks me.
"I've been okay, I finally found a place, it's out in Hell's Kitchen." I answer her.
A girl, who I assume is Kira, knocks on the door before entering with a tray which she sets on the coffee table.
"Thank you," both Pepper and I speak at the same time.
"You're welcome." The girl takes her leave.
"I am glad to hear, when I first moved here, I had to live with other 4 girls in a 1-bedroom apartment." She comments while we both help ourselves to coffee.
"Is that when you started working for Mr. Stark?"
"Oh no, I was a model in my early twenties, a couple of campaigns here and there, a few runways in New York Fashion Week."
I shouldn't be surprised; can the woman be even more perfect?
"What made you give that up?" I ask.
"Well, I craved challenge, something more, and I found the purpose of my life here at Stark Industries. This is what I want to talk to you about, I have been given the results of the assessment tests you went through, and I am truly impressed."
Well, this is a surprise.
"Your organizational skills and leadership skills are solid ground for the job I have been thinking for you."
I am not sure why I am so stunned, but I am.
"You are so quiet, aren't you excited?" Pepper crocks her head to the side, a bit of concern showing on her face.
I have been staring at her as if she has two head.
"I am! I am sorry, is just a bit of shock, that's all."
She giggles softly, stands up, brings back a black leather folder, and hands it to me.
"You shouldn't be."
I open it, and I see myself reflected on the picture they first took when I came to apply, behind it I read "Conditional Offer of Employment."
"As you know the Avengers are now somehow part of our payroll, and Tony has plans to convert one of his family's old properties upstate into a compound."
I keep my eyes on her beautiful blue eyes, hanging on every word.
"Tony as involved as he is in the process, he tents to... forget things. I need someone to be present and oversee the project."
There is no way she is offering me this job. No way.
"I have this whole other company to run, and I have to approve it all before it's goes, but I think I can trust you to make the right call when needed."
"I..." I...My brain stops working. "I am sure you have way more qualified people here that..." I stop myself. No. I want this. This is what I came here for.
Pepper also watches me closely, not missing a single thought that crosses through my head, and she smiles approvingly.
"What sold me was your answer to the last question of your interview with HR. "I want to build a better world, a legacy of my own, leave this planet better than I found it." I want you to have the opportunity to find that meaning you are looking for, there is nothing stronger than conviction, and you have something you believe in, and someone you want to protect as well."
"What would my job be?"
"Chief Project Coordinator, I need you to set up meetings with architects, civil engineers, suppliers, and everything else that is needed to get this place up and running. This is a project we project will be at least a couple of years long. You will answer directly to me, and work along side Maria Hill who is our Chief Intelligence Officer."
Maria Hill.
I am speechless.
"Why don't you read it over, and let's meet for dinner tonight? 8 pm?" Pepper glances at the gold watch around her delicate wrist. She stands up, giving our meeting for over.
"Thank you!" I follow her lead, gather my things, and allow her to show me to the door. "I will have an answer by then for sure."
I think I already have one, but I do want to read through it to make sure.
We say our goodbyes and I make my way to the elevators. Residents and employees in the Tower have different access points and elevators, and the only one that has a private elevator connecting office and penthouse is Pepper.
I take my phone out and text Steve "Guess who just got an offer?" while attaching the picture of me and the black folder.
I am not expecting the call I got right away.
"Congratulations!" His enthusiastic tone makes my heart flutter. "I am so proud of you."
"We will have double the reasons to celebrate tomorrow. Will you be back?" I don't mean to sound like I am nagging.
"I am on my way now. I will see you tonight."
"Really?"
"Really, I will see you tonight."
"Would you be back for dinner? Pepper invited me so I can give her an answer, and I would love you to be there."
"I will be." He assures me.
"I love you." I say.
"I love you."
I make it to the lobby, and George, the concierge, waves at me from his position. Outside the world moves with speed. People walk like a school of fish swim through the ocean, tightly packet and fast. I have learned the hard way that they wont spot for you if you decide to stand in the middle of the sidewalk, so I stay close to the building, considering if I want to go back to the apartment or if I should get lunch somewhere.
It is impossible to miss that distinguishing flaming red hair, even in the crowd. Natasha also spots me, and walks straight towards me.
"What are you doing here?" I hug her, because I am feeling wonderful right now, and I want everyone to share it with me.
"Happy Birthday!" She says.
"My birthday isn't until tomorrow." I let her go.
"Well, I want to start celebrating with you before everyone else starts to make a fuss about it."
"You are already making a fuss about it. It was hard enough to convince Tony not to throw a party."
Nat loops her arm on mine and pulls me alongside her, I am not sure where.
"Even Steve got one." She remarks.
"He deserves a million parties, he missed so many years."
"You deserve one too. Have you had lunch yet?"
"No."
"Alright, let's start there. Does sushi sound good to you?"
My mouth waters just thinking about it.
Nat takes me to a small place, the only indication that it is a Japanese place is the small hanging wood sign in the outside, sign I can't read because it is in kanji.
I have never been to Japan, but sitting in this small restaurant feels like I might as well be in Kyoto, enjoying the freshest of today's catch. Nat seems to know the elderly Japanese man that runs the place, and speaks to him with ease, the foreign language rolling from her tongue like she was born there.
We are served a colorful sashimi plater, all different kind of fish so soft they practically melt in my mouth. And the warm sake is just the cherry on top.
"I thought you would have gone with Steve to this recovering mission." I comment as I grab a piece of yellowtail and lightly bathed it with soy sauce.
"It should be simple for him to come and go, no need for me."
"He told me he will be back by tonight."
"Do you have plans?"
"Pepper asked me to dinner to give her an answer to her proposal." I show her the folder.
"Well, well! Chief Operations Officer, Damn girl! That's amazing."
I am beaming with pride. She goes through a couple of different pages.
"Wow, this is very generous."
I snatch the folder back and settle my sight on the absurd number in the bottom of the page. Well, it is not absurd, but it is a couple digits more than I been making so far. It makes me nervous. I close it and put it over the empty chair next to me.
"What is with that face?" She asks me.
The elderly man brings some sushi and some perfectly shaped Onigiri, we thank him, and I grab one of the rice triangles.
"I am just concern I am way over my head."
"Oh yeah, totally."
"Ouch, that hurt." I make a face.
"Well, if you don't want me to say mean things to you, don't be mean to yourself." she scolds me.
"Alright, alright!" I raise my hands in defeat.
I should have known Natasha is up to something the moment she takes me to a bookstore, but of course it works because I am too distracted by the books to care that she is trying to keep me occupied.
"Go crazy, this is my birthday gift. Any book you want, as many as you want." Natasha tells me.
I eye her, making sure he is serious.
"I can do serious damage." I warn her.
"I would like you to try." She crosses her arms over her chest.
It takes me hours to go through the place. I find a new poetry book I am excited to read, and Nat insisted that I get a new set of Jane Austen novels with leather bound covers. I also find a couple of coffee table books, one about cats in funny hats, and another one on a small country in Africa called Wakanda. Steve commented that there is the place where Howard Stark got the vibranium for his shield, so I think it would be fun to read about it.
And... of course the romance section couldn't be left behind. I get the whole Bridgeton series, nothing like a bodice ripper to get me some new ideas.
"How are we going to get all this to Hell's Kitchen?" I ask Nat as we push the cart an employee kindly offered us.
"Why the hell did you move to Hell's Kitchen in the first place? It's not a ver safe place right now." She says.
"It's close to Avenger's Tower." I shrug my shoulders.
"You should've just have moved in with Steve. He is gone half the time anyways, and the other half you spend there when he is."
"It's too soon too move in together, and he also stands time in my apartment." Like this morning.
"What are you afraid of? He not liking your snoring?"
"I don't snore."
Nat only laughs.
"It's not that. It really is too soon."
We make it to the register to pay, and Nat asks for the books to be delivered to my address. That makes a lot of sense.
It is getting late, but Nat still insists on coffee.
I am tired, so sitting down with a creamy matcha latte is a nice break. The place is a combination of a french bakery and a Starbucks, which makes for fun drinks and tasty pastries.
We sit down in a quiet corner next to a huge tropical plant, on comfortable, yet stylish
I watch Nat from a cross the table, her straight red hair and bare face, and for the million time I wonder about everything she went through.
"May I ask you something?" I decide to ask.
"Yes?"
"How was it like falling in love for you?" I keep my eyes trained on her emerald eyes.
For a second there I see them well up with tears. I almost regret asking, if it wasn't for the shy smile that spreads over her lips.
"I never had anyone to speak about it with." She blinks a couple of times, the tears never making it out of the rim of her waterline.
"If you can't, you don't have to."
"Is not that. Is strange. I was young. At first it was only physical. I was brave enough to ask him to my dorm, by then, the red room has so much hold on our minds that we have stopped trying to escape, so they no longer handcuff us to the bed. The graduation class is so small too, so few of us survive, that we get out own rooms for our last year. I remember the way my heart raced, wondering if he would come. He did."
She pauses to take a sip of her chai. Slowly, she puts the cup down, keeping her eyes down on it.
"They taught us to use our sexuality as a weapon, to take every emotion out of it, one more thing to use in our skill set. They ripped that very human part out of us, including him, so the first time was not something out of a romance book, but as we spend more of time together, as his skin became warm to my touch, and he learned to caress me in ways I never knew could get me to react the way they did..."
"The nights became longer, and that's when we actually started to speak to each other."
"So, to ask answer your question. Falling in love was terrifying, it could have cost us our lives. However." Nat looks up at me, her eyes shinning bright. " Love saved me, made me realize that it didn't matter how hard they tried, they couldn't take my heart, and even though it took a while, it also gave me the courage to take a stand against them."
"How do you feel... now?"
"I will always care for him. I can't say I am in love still, but maybe, if one day we find him or he returns to us, maybe we could find out. But I am not holding out for it. I just want to give him the chance to live."
To really live.
Nat crocks her head to the side, now it's her turn to question me, and I already can tell what question will be.
"Have you really forgiven him for what The Winter Soldier was made to do?"
I let the warmth and sweetness of my drink ease the aching in my chest.
"Bucky is a victim in all this. I don't have to forgive him, however, I would breath easier if I knew the Winter Soldier would never comeback." I remember what Spencer's report said regarding how damaged Bucky's mind could be. How just how Bucky's personality fights for control, so can the Winter Soldier.
We finish our drinks, and by that time it is close to 7 pm. I won't be able to make it to my apartment and back in time for dinner.
"Just go to Steve's apartment, I am sure you will she. Something to wear there." She says.
Of course I have no other option by to do just that. Anyways, I am anxious to see Steve, and he should be there by now.
We get an Uber to Avengers Tower, but Nat does not get out, only drops me off and says she will see me later.
So I am back in the same point she picked me up this morning, same black folder in hand, and now is when I actually think to myself how odd the whole day was.
I enter the building and say hi to Andrea, the evening concierge, and go to the residential elevators. Unlike other places, where you would have to use a key or a code, the Tower already has facial recognition locks that allow you in and out. I have learned that the best security is seemless.
My heart loses a bit of hope when I find the apartment empty. The moment I enter the lights come on, and I make my way to the bedroom.
I do worry something went wrong, but bad news travel fast, so I just concentrate on getting dress for dinner.
I decide to text Pepper, just to make sure if I have to dress business casual, but she says is just a casual dinner and that I should dress comfortably, so I do.
I rummage through the clean clothes I have hanging on Steve's closet, and find a pretty white top, and pair it with jeans and ankle boots.
The closer it gets to eight the more I worry, I do text Steve, just to make sure he is okay.
"Everything is good Sweetheart, I will see you soon." He texts back.
With that out of the way, and my mind at ease, I apply my make up and get ready to accept the job that will change my life forever.
To my surprise is only Pepper in the penthouse, she receives by the elevators, which is kind of odd, like she has been standing there waiting for me.
"Alex, why don't we sit for a second while Tony and Steve join us? So we can finish up business first." She says.
"Ah, yes of course. I brought this too!" I hand her the Daou Sparkling Rose Estate Reserve I have been saving for an special occasion.
"Perfect!" She guides me to the pounding area below, next to where when there are parties is use as the dance floor. I can't help but notice how quiet and dark is in here.
I sit down and she does too. I watch how elegant her moments are, her spine perfectly straight, her legs together and to the side, her hand perfectly relax on her lap. I wonder if she went to any of those fancy finishing schools.
I find myself wanting to mirror her posture, my shoulders instinctively pulling back.
"What do you think of the position?" She asks.
I inhale deeply.
"I think it is challenging and demanding. It would take someone with dedication and ambition, plus imagination and vision." I exhale, focus my sight on her baby blue eyes, and smile. "And I am up for it. 100% percent. I will give it all I got and more."
Pepper nods in agreement and stretches her hand out to me. I take it and squeeze it firmly.
"Welcome to Stark Industries." She says.
I am full of hope and pride and I wish Steve was her so he could...
There is a loud pop that makes me jump to my feed, and the lights suddenly come on on the second floor balcony overlooking this level. Confetti falls all over as a banner that reads Congratulations-Happy Birthday on bold black letters that get smaller the closer they get to the end.
On top in the balcony appear Steve, Natasha, Sam, Tony, Thor, and to my surprise Julia as well, clapping for me.
"Were you in this too?" I turn to Pepper, completely surprised.
She shakes her head yes, a pretty smile on her face.
"Happy Birthday." She congratulates me while giving me a nice hug.
I should have known better than to trust there wasn't going to be a party after all. But this, with the new family I happened to be lucky enough to join, this I can get use to.