Several days later
Steve's POV
I walked into Maria's office to discuss our plans for tomorrow, only to be surprised to see that Sarah was already back from her mission with Mystique and arguing with someone over the phone, still in her dirt-streaked fatigues. She gave me a warm smile as soon as she noticed me and continued talking for another minute before handing the phone back to Maria.
"Hey Steve! I'd hug you but I'm filthy. We just got back."
"It's good to have you back, Sarah," I said with a smile. "I didn't think I'd get to see you before I leave tomorrow." I paused before asking quietly, "You didn't bring her back with you, did you?"
Sarah snorted and tried not to laugh. She knew I didn't particularly care for the troublesome shapeshifter. "No, she's on her way back to the School."
"Good. Do I need to have you prove you're really you?"
She threw me an amused glance and rolled her eyes. "Ha, ha. Anyways, I wouldn't have gotten home today originally, but we lucked out and found the tunnel faster than we thought we would."
"That's good. Everyone all right?"
"Mikey wrenched his ankle when he fell through the ceiling finding the tunnel – I'm sure he'll tell you the whole story in detail - and Jake got shot in the arm. I got the bullet out and wrapped it in the Quinjet on our way back; I sent him to check in with Dr Blake."
"It'll give Kate a reason to fuss over him," I teased, making her laugh.
She pretended to hit my arm. "Are you trying to get Kate in more trouble? You know Jake's girlfriend doesn't like Kate much."
"Jake's girlfriend doesn't like anyone much – except Jake," I pointed out. I certainly didn't like her, but he already knew that.
"And you – she hits on you shamelessly when he's not around; do I need to be worried?"
"She's not my type," I said with a grin. "There's this little brunette on my floor that's a real looker. Have you seen her?" Sarah laughed quietly and rested her hand on my arm.
"I'm going to go get cleaned up and head home."
I touched her face lightly. "I'll be there shortly. I'm not quite done for the day yet."
* *
I knew I should really be sleeping, but I didn't want to miss out on any of my limited time with Sarah. We were both gone a lot lately, so I didn't get to spend as much time with her as I'd like to. She'd fallen asleep halfway through the movie and I'd shifted her so that she was laying on my chest, soaking in my body heat like a contented kitten. I stroked her long, dark hair that she'd left loose at my request, running my fingers through the silky strands and spreading it out over her back and my arm.
Sarah always looked so peaceful when she slept. I never got tired of watching her sleep, her perfectly formed lips were slightly parted and her long eyelashes brushed her tanned cheeks. I'd missed so many little things about her while she'd been gone, like her unique scent. It was a pleasant combination of her shampoo - stronger at the moment due to her slightly damp locks - and her laundry soap mingled with her perfume.
She started to stir as the movie ended and I looked down to see her golden brown eyes flutter open. She smiled slightly when her eyes focused on me.
"Ready to go to bed?"
"Mmmhmm." She closed her eyes again and brought a hand up to touch my face but didn't move to stand up. I didn't think she was really awake, though.
"Do you want me to carry you?" I asked when her I felt her go limp again, confirming my theory.
"Mmmhmm," she murmured, not even opening her eyes this time.
I chuckled, sitting up and shifting her so I could carry her. She cracked her eyes open briefly, letting me know she was semi-awake.
"You need to eat more, doll. There's nothing to you," I teased, knowing it would get a response from her.
Sure enough, her eyes shot open and narrowed at me. "Wonderboy, are you for real? You can lift thousands of pounds, of course my 135 pounds doesn't seem like much."
I snorted at the Hercules reference. "Does that make you Meg?" I tossed her on the bed and she bounced right up, winding her arms around my neck and kissing me to keep me from talking.
"Call me nutmeg and I'll hurt you," she growled.
"Meg, Meg, Meg, my little nutmeg," I said with a smile, unable to resist riling her up. I found myself pinned to the bed a moment later, blinking in astonishment.
"Let's see if Wonderboy is ticklish," she said, a wicked grin on her face as her hands ran over my body, her fingernails lightly scratching my skin.
My muscles shuddered unexpectedly when she scraped my sides and her smile widened as she repeated the motion again to the same effect.
"You are!" she gasped, reaching for the hem of my shirt to tug it up and off me, trapping my hands in it as she kissed me deeply.
I studied her as she sat back on me, straddling my hips and touching my torso so lightly I almost couldn't feel her. I decided to play along for now; I could easily free myself, but I was curious as to what she would do next. A loose feather from my down comforter caught her attention and she picked it up, twirling it between her fingers before tracing it over my skin. I watched her eyes as she focused on me, feeling my skin ripple and goose-bump beneath her fingers. She leaned forward and blew on my skin and I jumped at the unfamiliar sensation, making her giggle.
"Interesting," she said with a smirk.
I tensed my muscles as she pursed her lips to do it again. It was just as intense the second time, my skin skittering under her ministrations. She tipped her head forward, letting her hair fall onto my skin. I sucked in a breath and tried to lock my muscles as I realized what she was doing, her hair moving across my torso and teasing my skin.
She felt me tense and leaned forward to kiss me. "I'll stop if it's too much for you; just say the word, okay?"
I nodded, freeing one hand to stroke her face lightly. "It's all right for now. I'm not used to being touched like that."
If anything, her smile widened. "I find it hard to resist touching you."
"I've noticed," I grinned. "And I'm not complaining. Do I get to touch you like this as well?"
"When I'm done with you, maybe." She kissed my palm and pushed my arm back up over my head. "Leave that there for now. Can I blindfold you?"
"I trust you," I said, nodding. She pulled off her t-shirt and tied it over my eyes. With my sight gone, all of my other senses were ratcheted up a notch. I felt her warmth leave me and then she was tugging off my socks, leaving me in just my shorts. If I wasn't turned on before, I certainly was now and I felt myself hardening.
It was almost sensory overload for me as I felt her climb back on the bed, her smooth limbs touching mine. She touched me firmly first, sliding her hands over my torso and down my legs before reversing. The next time was lighter but somehow just as intense. It was the third time she did it, so lightly she was barely touching me but somehow that was almost overpowering to me and I had to force myself to leave my hands over my head.
Her lips followed next, her hair tickling me as she kissed, licked and nipped her way down my torso. My hip bones were particularly sensitive, and it didn't help that I was convinced she was sprawled between my legs, her hair falling everywhere on my thighs.
I was breathing shallowly and my cock was aching fiercely by the time she moved back up, her body rubbing over it and teasing it as she laid on me, the feel of her skin against mine was incredible.
She kissed me again, her tongue stroking mine as she ran her hands over my arms, bringing one down and resting it on her leg. She brought the other one down as well, her fingers trailing lightly over my skin. I needed to touch her, so I brought my hand up her leg, lightly squeezing her pert ass before moving my hand to her small waist, my thumb tracing circles over her hipbone.
She tugged on my arm, indicating she wanted me to sit up. The minute I did, she climbed in my lap, her body pressing closer to me. She ran her hands over my back, scraping the skin lightly with her fingernails until it felt like my whole body was on fire and I couldn't take any more.
I put my arms around her, crushing her to my chest as I kissed her and taking the blindfold off. I kept control of the kiss, brushing her hair back to kiss down her neck, nipping the sensitive spot on her collar bone before capturing her lips again. She wound her legs around my waist, trapping my cock between us and drawing a groan from me as she sucked on my tongue, wearing away what little control I thought I had as my mind instantly leapt to the thought of her sucking on something else.
I took a deep breath and immediately slowed the kiss down, making it sweeter and less needy because I wasn't ready for what would come next if we didn't stop now, even as my body yearned for release.
"Wow," she said breathlessly, resting her forehead on mine. "I didn't intend to let it get that heated."
"Wow is right," I said roughly, my voice deeper than before. I caressed her face. "I think I should take a rain check on returning the favor. Maybe when I get back in a couple days?"
She kissed me lightly and smiled. "Sure. Gives me something else to look forward to."
I set her aside on the bed and walked to the bathroom to deal with my hard on – another cold shower couldn't hurt.