Work Text:
You couldn’t stop turning the words over and over in your mind, picturing the softness behind Bucky’s eyes as he’d slipped his business card to Mel. The business card that you’d meticulously designed and sent to print. The one you’d agonized over for hours. You knew they’d be used for networking but you’d never though they’d be used to find a replacement for you.
‘You can choose who you work for.’
He wasn’t wrong, but fuck—those words cut deeper than you thought they could. There was an empty pit in your stomach as the late spring air swept through the city, making it feel cooler than it was as you stood tensely beside the congressman with crossed arms, waiting for the limousine to pull closer to the curb where you were both waiting. You’d loved the dress when you’d chosen it last week—the slinky, sleeveless black silk gown with the high neck and low back—but now you just couldn’t wait to get home and shed the second skin so you could scroll through LinkedIn or some shit.
Or maybe you would take some time and lick your wounds first before exploring your other options; you’d been by Bucky’s side for years. You’d been on his campaign since he’d launched it. It was easy to recall the day that you’d walked into the makeshift office in Brooklyn and offered to canvas for his campaign since you were sick of the congressman who’d represented your district for too many years. Since then, you didn’t think there’d been a day that you hadn’t been in some kind of contact with James Buchanan Barnes. The pair of you had fallen into an easy camaraderie.
As the long car rolled to a stop before you both and he opened the door for you, waving off the valet, you realized that everything he’d been saying for the past several minutes that you’d been waiting had fallen on your deaf ears. Carefully keeping your knees pressed together—even if you weren’t going to be working for Bucky much longer, you still didn’t need any upskirt pictures out in the tabloids—you murmured your thanks and slid into the backseat. The partition between the backseat and the driver was already up; Bucky always insisted on it for privacy. He unbuttoned his coat and ducked in after you were settled, maintaining the middle seat’s distance from you.
It was quite a feat being able to fit three phones into the tiny bag that was your clutch. You handed Bucky’s over to him on autopilot as you grabbed your work phone, leaving your personal one safely tucked away. Opening your email app, you steeled yourself and carefully left the address blank as you quickly typed Letter of Resignation into the subject line. Finally, some of his words finally bled through your endless stream of thoughts.
“Do you know what Gary was talking about?”
Finally, you glanced over at him. You were annoyed but fuck. It’s like you forgot how attractive he was every time you looked away for too long; the tux you’d picked up for him was perfectly tailored, tight on his biceps and across his broad chest. Finally, you met his light blue eyes as he continued, “He mentioned some packets that I should look at.”
The aggravation from his words overrode your momentary attraction and you let out a short exhale of an almost laugh before returning to typing your email as you pointed out, “You mean the packets that I add to your briefing folder every morning that you ignore?” Biting your tongue from including some more choice words, you gave a delicate shrug and finished nonchalantly, fingers still flying over your keyboard, “I think he was talking about those.”
You could feel the light gray-blue eyes boring into your cheek as you kept your attention directed at the little screen in your hands. The need to flinch under his scrutinizing gaze was overpowered by your attitude.
“Is there something wrong?” From the corner of your eye, you saw his brows draw together as he hesitantly tried to piece together what had happened. In all your time of knowing him, you’d always had a quick wit, but your ire had never been directed at him.
Schooling your features, you added sugar to your tone as you finally met his eyes and played dumb, wanting him to draw his own conclusion, “Why would anything be wrong, Congressman Barnes?”
“Oh, so, I’m Congressman Barnes now?”
Although it was dark and the passing headlights and streetlamps only provided flickers of illumination, you could see there was a glint of amusement in his eye, and it lit a fire where the empty pit in your stomach had just been moments before. Was this a fucking joke to him? Taking a slow breath, you corrected, “Fine, James,” before continuing your typing.
“Cut the shit.”
Your fingers faltered on your keyboard as you sat up straighter at the abrupt change to his tone. While he’d never been on your bad side, you’d also never been on his. Bucky had always been exceedingly kind. Even in his silent ways—ordering your favorite dinner when you guys spent too long at the office, holding an umbrella over you as you both canvassed the neighborhood in the rain, riding past his subway stop at the end of the day to get off at yours and make sure you got home safely before backtracking eight blocks to his own apartment when you guys were in the city and not in the capitol.
“Excuse me?”
The muscle twitched in his sculpted jaw before he continued frankly, “Come on. You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder for half the night, doll.” You cut your eyes at him as the nickname rolled off his tongue and replayed in your head. Doll. It made your heart beat a little faster, but you attributed it to your annoyance—nothing else.
He huffed a half-laugh of exasperation at your continued silence, running a hand over the short scruff of his beard, “Look, you gonna make me drag it out of you? Or can you just tell me?”
Biting the inside of your cheek, you schooled your features into something calm and finally gave him your undivided attention. Letting your eyes rove over his earnest expression, you hesitated. Did he really not fucking know? Or was he just an asshole and didn’t think you’d care? Sitting up a little straighter, your voice was even as you ignored the hurt and cooly acknowledged the elephant in the limousine, “It just would have been nice to know that you were looking for a new assistant. That’s all.”
Even he couldn’t feign the confusion that crossed his face as he pushed back, “What the hell are you talkin’ about?”
“What do you mean?” Exasperation colored your tone as your eyes carefully searched his. His silent confusion only served to aggravate the tension that wrapped around you, as the words finally spilled out, “I have basically been on your campaign since you announced your bid for congress! I know what you look like when you’re charming people for donations and you don’t think I can’t tell when you’re working someone?”
“It wasn’t—”
“I was five feet away, James!” You cut him off, your knuckles blanching as you gripped your phone tightly. The blinking cursor waited for more of your (admittedly, kind of rude) words of resignation. Feigning thoughtfulness, you carried on as if attempting to job his memory, “What was it you said? Oh! Yeah. You can choose who you work for.”
Shaking your head, both wounded and pissed off, you glanced out the window to see you were still half an hour from the building that housed both of your apartments. This was going to be a fun ride. You’d barely pulled away from the museum’s curb. As you sat back against the leather of the seat, you returned your attention to the email, continued typing with too much force, and attempted to ignore Bucky’s presence. Surely, you’d have to edit out some of the notes of ‘fuck you’ and ‘asshole’ before you sent it Monday morning.
“Can you stop fuckin’ typing?” He grumbled frustratedly. The dark metal and gold of his vibranium hand glinted under the flicker of the streetlight as he easily plucked it from your hands and tried to diffuse the situation. “Baby, listen—”
You reached for your phone as he quickly locked it and gave you a chastising glare as you tried to reason, “Look, I’m just trying to draft my letter of resignation. So, I’d really appreciate that back.”
Holding it out of your reach, he snorted a laugh. His tongue ran over his teeth, and he shook his head, almost as if he was entertained by your reaction, murmuring lowly, “I’m not gonna accept your goddamn resignation.”
A bolt of something shot through your stomach at the almost growl and you felt a shiver roll through your body, goosebumps rising on your bare arms. You shoved that aside and continued to argue, “You don’t have a choice!” Giving up, you crossed your arms and sank back into the seat, “It’s a resignation, not a request. I’m not asking if I can quit, I’m—”
“You’re not doing shit!” His voice was raised and that was the first time you’d ever seen the cords of his patience finally snap and you were momentarily stunned into silence. Taking your hand in his, and taking advantage of your sudden lack of talking, he was almost imploring as he hurriedly explained and held your gaze, “I wasn’t looking for a new assistant; I just needed Mel to know that she could work for someone aside from Valentina so maybe she’d testify at the impeachment. That’s all.”
Biting the inside of your cheek, you hesitated as his words finally computed in your brain. Well, fuck.
Maybe you’d jumped the gun because…that made sense. For the past two weeks, you both had been discussing strategies to try and ensure an impeachment for Valentina was within the realm of possibility and Mel’s name may or may not have come up a handful of times. So, maybe—just maybe—you’d gotten ahead of yourself.
You knew it was a toxic trait, but you were already in the thick of this argument and completely relenting wasn’t an option no matter how reasonable he was. So, you rolled your eyes, ignoring the way his thumb brushed over the back of your hand as you looked past him, out the window, and mumbled without any real heat, “Okay. Sure.”
His chin dropped to his chest as he huffed out a short, dry laugh and shook his head, “You think I’d ever want anyone else by my side?” His vibranium fingers laced with yours and the corner of his lips ticked up in a half-smile at your attitude.
Your eyes flicked down to your hands as he gave a gentle squeeze, and continued quietly, “Baby, I couldn’t do anything without you. We wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for you.”
His eyes were soft as you disbelievingly shook your head with a small smile that matched his and looked out your own window, “Shut up…”
“I guess I do a pretty shitty job of letting you know how valuable you are to me.”
Turning your head, your breath caught in your throat as you realized how close he was. The familiar spiced cologne that reminded you of whiskey and citrus clung to his chest; it invaded your senses, and you felt your face go warm. Your teeth dug into your bottom lip as a shaky breath threatened to pass from you. The blue of his eyes was just a ring around his pupil, dilated with want; you knew yours had to look the same. The fire in your stomach had dropped lower and you shifted under his wanting gaze.
This had been almost two years in the making and maybe there wasn’t a point in trying to fight it anymore. Your eyes flickered to his lips before returning to his eyes and you whispered shakily, “Bucky, we…”
Like you saying his nickname pulled some trigger, he shook his head with a crooked smile, “Fuck it.”
Bucky’s hand cupped your cheek, and, with a surprising amount of gentleness, he crashed his lips into yours and the pieces fell into place. Every feeling that had been behind some secret dam you didn’t know that you’d built rushed out. Your hand drifted over his chest and around his neck as you pulled him closer and sighed softly against his lips.
“I didn’t know you were so jealous, baby…” He teased, pulling you into his lap and you couldn’t help the way it made you smile into the kiss.
“Not jealous,” You murmured before your teeth grazed over his bottom lip and he groaned, his hand tracing down your spine before landing on your ass and giving a gentle squeeze. Giggling, you continued and pressed your body closer to his, “Just wanted some job security…”
“Trust me, baby. The job is always yours.” His words were muffled as his lips moved down your jaw and against your neck, trailing up and down, never staying in one spot long enough to leave a mark as one of his hands trailed down to the slit in your dress. “Tell me what you need.”
“Touch me.”
“I am.” He teased and you gave a soft whine, the fingers of one of your hands tangling in his hair as the other tried to urge his hand higher up the soft skin of your thigh. Feigning surprise, his lips finally moved away from your neck as he sat back and grinned wide, “Oh, you want my fingers?” Feeling the way his chest rose and fell while pressed against your own made you shiver as your legs spread slightly.
“Fuck…” He groaned, his thumb grazing the inside of your thigh before it easily zeroed in on your clit that was still hidden behind the silky material of your panties. The muscles in your stomach clenched as he pressed gently against your bundle of nerves.
“Bucky—" His name was a soft whimper as it was pulled from your lips at the pressure you needed more of.
Bucky’s fingers grazed your cheekbone as he traced your face reverently before pressing his thumb to your lips as he murmured lowly, “Get it wet for me, baby.” Your tongue swirled around his digit, sucking as you hollowed out your cheeks and watched his eyes darken. “Fuck…that’s my good girl.”
Slipping his finger from your mouth, he glazed it over your bottom lip, tugging on it gently before shifting to his knees in the spacious floorboard. You whined softly as the dress restricted your thighs from spreading any further. The ripping of fabric pulled a gasp from your lips as he tore the pre-sewn slit in your silky skirt higher.
“I’ll get you a new one.” His wolfish grin stopped you from chastising him as he tugged the gusset of your underwear aside and let out a low groan as the wetness that glistened on your folds. Digging your fingers into the leather of the seat, you shifted shyly under his gaze.
“Bucky…” You begged with a whisper, “I need you. Please.”
With a breath caught in your chest, you watched as he bit his lower lip and traced his thumb up and down your slit before letting out a low growl, “Gotta fucking taste you.”
You couldn’t stop the yelp as he easily grabbed your hips and tugged you further down the seat, slipping your panties off you and shoving them in his back pocket before hooking your legs over his broad shoulders as his big hands held your thighs wide. His thumbs spread your folds apart as his tongue licked a broad, languid strip from your weeping entrance to your swollen clit as a keening moan was pulled from your lips at the pleasure that coursed through your veins.
With a playful click of his tongue, his tone feigned disappointment, “Made such a mess of this sweet little cunt. You sensitive, baby?” He barely brushed a finger down your soaked slit again, and you couldn’t stop the way your hips bucked at the stimulation, a sob pulled from your chest. Clamping a hand over your mouth, you tried to stifle the noises that wanted to spill from you. Nipping at the sensitive skin of your inner thighs, you could feel the way he smiled as you shifted restlessly and he cooed teasingly, “Look at this perfect fucking pussy, all spread out for me.”
Without adieu, Bucky returned his lips to your clit, his tongue tracing a circle around the bud before sucking it between his lips. Your fingers tangled in his hair, and you felt the way he groaned against your center as you tugged gently. No matter how badly you needed to clench your thighs closed, whether to keep him close or push him away because the pleasure was too much, it wasn’t possible. “So sweet for me, baby…”
The vibration of his words made you whimper as he sucked an erratic pattern that made you writhe on the leather seat as your fingers gripped his hair even tighter; he was ravenous as he licked and sucked and nipped, driving you wild and pushing you closer to the edge. Slipping his middle finger into your tight channel, he pumped it in and out with lewd noises from your wetness. After a moment, he slipped a second one in with the first and crooked them up against the ridged spot that made you see flares of light. You felt your face grow warm at the sound as you begged, “Buck—”
A warmth pooled low in your stomach, and you couldn’t stop the breathy “oh’s” that were pulled from your chest. Squeezing your eyes closed, you rocked your hips up into his mouth as he sucked at your labia and dipped his tongue into your clenching core like a man starved. Just as you were about to fall over the edge, he pulled back with a lecherous grin. A needy whine fell from your lips as you gripped his hair tighter, trying and failing to keep his mouth pressed where you needed him most as he held you firmly by the hips, pressing you into the seat.
“So greedy, baby…” Pressing his lips to your mound, his thumbs brushed over your hips as he asked teasingly, “What? Did you wanna come?”
With a shuddering breath, you dropped your head back against the pillows as your fingers tightened in his hair, pleading, “God—fuck, yes.”
“Where are your manners, baby?” His words were low as a gentle nip to your clit made your back arch off the seat at the surprising cocktail of pleasurable pain. Rubbing over your button with a thumb, soothing the barely-there sting, he cautioned with a teasing smile, “If you come, I’m not letting you stop ‘til you’re begging.”
“Don’t care—please, Bucky.” Shaking your head as you looked down at him worshipping between your thighs, you weren’t even certain that your words were intelligible as you begged and babbled with hooded eyes, “Please, let me come. Please, fuck—”
Without a verbal response, he ducked his head back down and returned to his lingual assault, pulling a loud, ‘Fuck!’ from deep in your chest as you rocked your hips against the two fingers that were thrusting deep inside of you at a punishing pace, working you open. It wasn’t long before your thighs were clenching as he crooked his fingers just right and sent you over the edge.
“That’s it. Fuck…” He hummed against your center.
Your back bowed off the seat as a pleasant warmth spread through your body, radiating out through your fingers and curled toes as his tongue laved over your sensitive skin, graduating from flat broad strokes to little kitten licks that made you twitch with aftershocks of your climax. Trying to close your thighs and shy away from his touch, you whined before he sat up, blushing as you spotted his lips and chin shiny from your wetness. With the back of his hand, he wiped away some of it with a smug wink.
Pressing a hand over your chest, grounding yourself with the feeling of your skin, you tried to catch your breath as a soft laugh huffed past your lips. Sinking back into the warm leather of the seat, you watched as Bucky’s eyes trailed after his hands that worshipfully grazed up your still shaky thighs before trying to fix the skirt of your dress, gently trailing his lips over your skin as he tugged it back down to cover you. However, that did nothing to help the torn fabric that had been ripped too high.
You’d barely remembered he’d ripped the silk it until the cool air from the vent brushed over your thighs chest and you felt your face go warm, suddenly feeling overexposed as you sat up, “Bucky!” Fruitlessly attempting to tuck or adjust the fabric to maintain some kind of modesty, you couldn’t help but whine about his (slightly hot) barbarism, “I just bought this!”
“I told you I’d get you a new one.” He grinned from where he was still on his knees and slid off the black suit jacket, leaving him in his dress shirt and undone bowtie. “Here, baby.”
Sliding back into the seat beside you, he held the jacket for you as you slid your arms into the too-big sleeves, grateful it was long enough to fall to your mid-thighs. Fixing your hair for you so it wasn’t tucked into the collar, he pressed a soft kiss to your neck as the limousine began to slow. You quickly buttoned the coat as he groaned and adjusted himself where his slacks had grown tighter.
Shooting him a coy smile, you questioned innocently, “Problem?” He huffed a laugh with a shake of his head as your grin widened.
He couldn’t stop himself from pulling you back in for another searing kiss, murmuring against your mouth, “You gonna take care of it when we get inside, baby?”
Pulling away with a soft moan, you teased breathlessly, “You mean when you come inside, baby?”
His eyes darkened as you opened the door with a sly smile, stepping on to the bustling sidewalk. Your knees were still weak from the orgasm that had wracked your body, and you were quickly regretting the heels you’d decided to wear earlier. But, in a flash, Bucky was beside you with his hand on the small of your back, guiding you inside as his lips brushed against your ear and made you shiver as he murmured, “Remember when I said I wasn’t gonna stop until you were begging? That’s exactly what I mean, sweetheart.”