Chapter Text
It wasn’t mandatory to show up to the S.H.I.E.L.D. New Year’s Celebration but it was expected. The top brass apparently figured this was the best way to reign in a crew that might otherwise go a little crazy. They were wrong, of course. Every year things got out of hand. But if you were anywhere near any of the HQs, you were to be there. Two years prior I’d managed to get out of it because I’d been deep undercover on a long term op. One that ended somewhat less than well. After that, it had been a bit more difficult to enjoy the sophomoric antics of the group of a-holes I worked with. It was the second year in a row I'd had to be fairly dragged to the party. Tash was not going to allow sitting home and being miserable on New Year's Eve. The previous year had still been a mopefest. This one was a little better. I was beginning to find my way back to myself and had just started experiencing a bit of joy again, finally laughing and remembering why I cared about these doofuses. Besides, it was a good excuse to get dressed up and buy a new pair of shoes.
“Brynja! Come dance with me!” Clint was shaking his moneymaker on the dance floor. He was a decent dancer, but possibly not the Usher he seemed to think he was.
“No, Clint. I don’t feel like dancing tonight.”
“Oh, come on! You used to love to dance!” I've never loved to dance. I was just willing to very occasionally dance with him because he loved it and I loved him. He was swinging his hips around in a wide circle. “Imagine how great this would look if I wasn’t wearing pants.”
I rolled my eyes. “Babe, I don’t have to imagine it. I’ve seen you helicopter your dick way more times than really should be allowable given we’ve never had sex.”
“It’s true, Clint.” Natasha chimed in. “I think everyone has seen it at this point.”
“Come on! Who doesn’t enjoy a little chopper action?”
Tash and I both raised our hands.
“You guys are no fun at all.” He grabbed Natasha's hand to drag her out to dance with him.
She shrugged and went along. "Fine, but I'd better get hella laid for this."
"You know it, babe." Clint's trailing response as they moved into the throng of other dancers made me chuckle.
A large presence come up behind me and I turned, grinning at the man with a glass in each hand. “Hey, Jax! I’m glad you made it!" Marcus Jackson was high on my list of favorite people. Our relationship was a little unorthodox, maybe. We were friends. Benefits were involved. But the benefits tended more towards the, you know, secrety and bondagey. Bottom line though, he was a really good guy. Gorgeous, of the tall, dark, and handsome variety. Body of a god that he'd honed in the Marines and took pains to keep perfect. Not that I need that. I'm more sapiosexual than anything, but that's not something you turn out of bed, know what I mean? Plus, a guy that bothers with a full shave of the head every morning is generally well groomed and meticulous in all other areas as well, and that’s never a bad thing.
"Hey, Ommie. Yeah. I almost didn’t make it before midnight! We just got back in a couple of hours ago.”
“You should have taken the night off! They’d have given you guys a pass on this bullshit! I don’t see your partner around.” That was definitely a good thing. A night without Billups was an excellent damn night in my book.
“Nah. I wanted to be here.” He held out one of the glasses to me. “I brought you a punch."
"Is this still the peachy vodka one?"
"No. This one smells limey."
"Nope. You don't want to drink it, then. The Chem department is starting early this year. Bold." I took both glasses out of his hands and set them on the bar table at the edge of the dance floor where we stood. "We don't know what's in it yet."
"I don't really understand your overwhelming need to know what's in it, Bryn. You know it will be fun and mostly harmless."
"Mostly being the operative word there. Were you here for the party five years ago?"
He shook his head. "I was on an op that year. I missed it. But I've heard all the stories, so I'm sorry I did!"
"Apparently the number of people who enjoy losing three days of their lives is higher than I would imagine. I'm a bit more leary ever since Super-Roofies year."
"I think three days is a bit of an exaggeration. The general consensus seems to be maybe about a day and a half."
"No. I swear to god, it was three. One of the first things I did after I came to was look at the date on my phone! All I know is I woke up in my bed next to Phil Coulson." I laughed. "We don't even ever hang out with Coulson!"
He stopped me with a raised hand. "Hold up. You slept with Coulson?"
"Oh no! Not at all! I mean clearly he co opted my bed while I was in it, but the dude was still prim and proper in his damn suit. No idea how he managed that! But yeah, no. No sex for me that year, from what I can tell. I found your boy John Billups passed out buck-ass naked in my shower, water running for god knows how long. It had to be freezing, given the state of his junk. Or, you know, maybe that's normal for him. Tash and Clint were rolled up together in a blanket on my living room floor. Lex was sprawled out in the spare bedroom with a guy I have literally never seen before or since, and about 2 hours after everyone else was up, Sitwell and Avery came crawling up out of my basement. We started putting together the bits and pieces of what happened from photos, videos, and Clint insists he has vague memories of all of it even though for the rest of us it’s a total blank. We spent most of the time bar hopping from what we could tell, a few strip clubs thrown in for good measure." I pulled up some of the strip club pics on my phone for him to see.
"Is that The Cavalry?"
"Yep. It looks like May was having a good time. And if you look closer, you can see Morse's head popping out from between that stripper's legs. Everyone looks like they're having fun but how can we really know? No one remembers! Apparently other highlights included breaking into the zoo in the middle of the night; rappelling down the outside of this very building, just for fun apparently; skinny dipping in a surely freezing pond in a park; and spray painting a mural on the roof of that tall, weirdly-shaped building on 35th. I wonder if that's still there? It's truly a miracle no one got arrested. Or maybe everyone did and we just don't remember. Eventually we made it back to my place where a ridiculously dangerous version of True American was played. I think everyone has seen the video of that." He nodded that he had, in fact seen the video. "And also a fairly competitive game of Egyptian Ratscrew must have occurred because there was a smoldering pile of ash in my sink that sort of resembled a deck of cards."
I noticed Lexi across the room eyeing us, so I pointed to the glasses of punch on the table and mouthed, "Testing Time!" while grinning wildly.
She shook her head and pointed to her wrist. It was too close to midnight and she wasn't giving up the New Year's countdown. Alexis Tate is my oldest and dearest friend. We'd met on our first day of Sci-Tech, and though our backgrounds were very different (She's from a huge, loving family while I hadn't had a family at all; My original Ph.D. was in biochemistry, she had a medical degree; She grew up in Atlanta, I was a born and raised New Yorker) we'd hit it off and were inseparable immediately. After Tech, we'd both managed to get recruited for Op Training. Basically everything we've been through in our adult lives we've been through together - Injuries and healing, falling in and out of love, relationships and breakups...All of it. She and Maria had already been together for around three years at that point in time. So it was officially Serious. She wasn't going to ring in the New Year in a lab when she could do it with her girl by her side.
"I guess we aren't testing til after midnight." I shrugged.
"They should start counting down any second. You won't have to wait long. I'll help you fill the time." He waggled his eyebrows at me in a parody of seduction as he pulled me into him by my waist.
"Watch it, buddy.” I laughed. “There are a lot of people around here. You don't want folks to start talking."
He reached over and downed one of the glasses of possible poison. "I like to live dangerously."
I covered my face with my hands. "Oh my god, what is wrong with you? And why do I still like you so much?"
"Because I am fun. And sexy as hell."
"And egotistical as all fuck!"
He shrugged in tacit agreement as the countdown to midnight began and the dancing duo returned to the table. I was ready for the preliminaries to be over so I could move on to my favorite part of the evening: the science!
As the "Happy New Years" rang out from all directions, I was pulled in for a kiss that was longer and more passionate than I'd imagined I would be having that night, or any night for that matter. When we broke apart, I looked around to make sure no attention was being paid to us. But sure enough, there was Lexi looking at us with the actual human equivalent of the heart eyes emoji and Natasha was asking more questions with one raised eyebrow than she ever could have with her mouth. Is something going on? How long has something been going on? Has it been going on since that night at that bar? Am I going to have to deal with the aftermath of this?
"Chill. It's not a thing," I answered her silent questions.
She nodded and headed off to gather more punch with Jax, as Clint came around the table for a hug.
"Happy New Year, Brynnie-Baby!"
"Happy New Year, sweetheart! What are you hoping to get out of this one?"
He considered for a moment. "I'd like to not get hurt as much, you know, physically. And I want to stay with Nat the whole year. No breakups."
"I'll do my part by talking her down when she gets squirrelly," I grinned, "but you have to make sure you don't do anything stupid."
He grimaced. "That's the problem. I don't always know it's stupid until after I've done it."
I patted his shoulder and the conversation was interrupted by Jax and Tasha returning with more testables and Lexi rolling up to the table.
As we headed up to the lab to test the punch, Lex peppered me with whispered questions. "How did I not know this was happening?"
"Because it isn't happening."
"Bullshit. I saw it. Why didn't you tell me?"
"This is why. You'd make a deal out of it."
"But it is a deal! You don't understand! Maria and I need couples friends to hang out with! I couldn't Frankenstein together a better one! My two best friends! Why didn't I think of setting you guys up before?"
"No, Lex. Stop it. It's not like that."
"I'm thinking mint green and like a pewtery gray for the wedding colors." Now she was teasing. I think.
"What? Is it 1996? No. And NO! Marcus! Can you please tell Lexi to stop planning our wedding?"
"Wait, what?" Jax turned in the lab's doorway looking confused and a little terrified.
I left the two of them to hash it out as I gathered supplies around the deserted laboratory. I loved the pure experimentation of this part of the night. Isolating the compound amid all the other molecules, figuring out what the effects of that compound might be-it had become my favorite part of the New Years celebration. All too often they had me off on some mission that was only vaguely scientific, using my Op training or my engineering skills far more frequently. But chem would always be my first love and it was fun to go back to it.
When I got back to the lab table Lex and Jax were not speaking. They were doing that weird thing of communicating with just their eyes that only people who have known each other for years can do. Actually, that’s basically the same thing Tash and I had been doing just before we came back the the lab. Huh. Sometimes I forget how long I’ve known all these people.
We ladies got started with testing as the guys hung back. Clint took his perennial spot at Tasha’s side, asking a stream of mostly irrelevant questions about the proceedings. Marcus slowly crept closer to me, eventually ending up fully pressed against my back, hands roaming, and face nuzzling at my neck.
“Stop it.” I elbowed him but he was unfazed.
“I don’t want to.”
I turned to look him in the eye. "What is wrong with you? Why don't you go rub on Lex for a while."
He was disgusted. "No! She's like my sister!"
"Fine, Natasha then."
His expression became one of abject horror. "No! She'll break my arm!"
"Why does everyone always think I'm going to break their arm?" Tash was crestfallen.
"Maybe because of that one time you broke that guy's arm," Lexi deadpanned.
"That‘s taken out of context."
"Or maybe it's from that time you broke that other guy's arm." I shrugged.
Clint continued, "Or maybe it's the time-"
"Okay!" Natasha yelled. "I get it. It's a valid fear."
I turned back to my work but after a full on reach around, I had to take matters into my own hands. I sighed and addressed my colleagues. “Excuse me for a sec.” I pushed Jax with a hand in the center of his chest up against the wall, hopefully out of earshot of the others. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged with a wide grin. “I just want to touch you! You feel nice.”
“Oh my god. This has to be the effects of the mickey. This is ridiculous.” I grabbed the collar of his tux, yanking his head down so his ear was level with my lips. “I need you to control yourself. keep your goddamn hands off of me or I’ll take it out of your ass later.”
He giggled. A literal giggle. Whatever the drug was, it was a mess.
I stepped back half a step. “Do you see these?” I lifted my foot to show off my heel. “If you can’t keep your shit together, as soon as I get you back into The Room of Requirement I’m gonna pierce your damn scrotum with this thing. Does that sound like something you’d enjoy?”
He continued to laugh. “No. Not at all!”
Threats were obviously not going to work, and I didn't really mean it anyway. I just thought if I got him in the bedroom mindset, he might behave. That was clearly not happening, so I gave up and turned back to the task at hand. “I think extreme handsiness is an effect of this stuff.”
Tash popped a brow as Jax continued his tee hee hees. “And an unusual amount of snickering, maybe?”
“I don’t know,” Clint picked up one of the drinks, examining it. “He seems like he’s having an awfully good time. I think I want some.”
“Clinton Aloysius Berenthal Barton!” I admonished as he downed the drink.
Jax and Lex looked at Tash, puzzled. She shook her head with a slight smirk. “No, that’s not even remotely his name.”
Clint's sheepish face emerged from behind the glass. "Aww, man. Did I already do something stupid?"
"I guess we'll find out," I sighed.
“I think I’ve got it.” Lexi called out. She turned the computer screen towards the rest of us. "It looks like some kind of adulteration of methylenedioxymethamphetamine.”
Natasha looked her up and down, surprised. “Strong work, Tate. Now what does that mean, exactly?”
“Yeah. Regular talk, guys,” Clint added. “What’s going to happen to me here, since I already took it.”
“Since you already took it...like an idiot.” I stated the obvious.
“Hey! I already took it took it too.” Jax was continuing to rub his face against my neck like an overlarge goateed cat. “Am I an idiot?”
“Yes.” I pushed him away again. “It means they made some kind of hyper-ecstasy or something. It explains all of this, to some extent.” I crooked a thumb at said idiot behind me.
“The changes in the structure hint at some differences in efficacy, maybe a longer action time. If M is any indication, the ‘I love everybody’ effect still holds true,” Lex said with a grin.
I turned to him, “Hey, look at me.”
“I am looking at you.”
“My face, Marcus, not my tits.”
“Oh,” he looked up. “Your face is pretty too.”
“Jesus.” I rolled my eyes. “You have truly lost every single bit of chill, haven’t you?”
He just grinned.
“Fine. Seeing anything that shouldn’t be there? Any other feelings?”
“No. I don’t see anything weird. I’d kinda like to go back out there and dance. Come dance. We should all dance. It’s too quiet in here. We need music…”
I turned back to the ladies. “I think we have our answer.”
Tash bit her lip. She looked around the room at each of our faces before grinning wildly and gulping down one of the other glasses. She grabbed Clint’s arm and dragged him out the door.
“Another one bites the dust.” I sighed then turned to see Jax’s expectant face. “Go on. We’re going to pick up this mess and we’ll be out soon.”
He nodded and quickly followed out after the pair of agents to find the music.
As we began to clean up, Lexi started in on me again. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”
“You’re making too big a deal of it. Besides, it was his idea not to tell you. It’s just...I’m not even sure. He asked for my help working some things out a few months ago. We’re just friends, really.”
“So you’ve never-”
“I didn’t say that. But it's not going anywhere, so don't get your hopes up."
"Okay." She gave a dejected pout. "I guess I was just happy for you guys. He'd be good for you. He's a really great guy. You deserve-"
I stopped her with an over-loud false laugh. "No. I don't deserve anything and he is a nice guy so he deserves better. Just let it go. It's not going to happen."
Lex held up her hands in mock surrender. That was the last I heard about it from her that night.
We emerged back out into the main lobby where the bulk of the party was held and it had been transformed. It was darker. Music was louder. Things were glowing. Lexi spotted Maria right away, smiling and holding a drink out to her.
"Ooh! Duty calls!" She sped over in her lady's direction.
I rubbed my palms across my face, unsure how I was going to be able to keep an eye on five separate morons in a sea filled with idiots. I felt like a babysitter in a really drunk daycare. I grabbed a glass of champagne off one of the trays and took it to a nearby table.
An arm was suddenly thrown over my shoulder. "Omdahl! My colleague, my friend! You don't seem like you're having a good time. Not enjoying what we've cooked up for you tonight?"
Stanley Bernard, Chem Director, and orchestrator of all this nonsense.
"Not particularly. Although I am impressed with the rapidity that you've managed to turn this place into a rave. When the clock struck midnight, did we truly go back in time to 1996? It seems so."
"We had everything ready for the second the big wigs left the building. A night of grand merriment is ahead of us! And yet, you don't seem to have partaken in our most excellent libation!"
"How can you tell?"
"You're morose, my dear. No one is morose on the cocktail. It's been specially designed to induce glee, as I'm sure you've already figured out."
"Yeah, we just came out of the lab. You're clearly in the deep throes of it's effect since you're speaking like a carnival barker from the 1800's."
"Too right, too right. Come now. I have some just here. Enjoy, enjoy!"
"No. Thank you. I'm in charge of making sure several of those flailing imbeciles out there make it home in one piece."
“You know, everyone out there is a responsible adult. You don’t have to worry so much about them.”
I turned and glared at him. “Have you met Clint Barton?”
“Master Assassin, Top Agent, Clint Barton? Yes, I have.”
“Yeah, don’t let his proficiency in the field fool you. I've seen him take out ten guys with the precision of a surgeon, then the next day trip out of the bathroom with his pants around his ankles. He's great when the pressure is on. When it's off? No telling."
"Still, you should be enjoying yourself. Why the hesitation?"
"Two words," I ticked them off on my fingers. "Super. Roofies."
He grinned ear to ear. "Yes! Our crowning achievement! Everyone had fun that year. Not you?"
"No! I've always wanted to scale the side of a building. Now I've done it and I don't even remember it! That's not even a little bit fair!"
"In hindsight, we should have worked harder to eliminate the memory loss. I suppose we figured you crazy folks might do some things you wouldn't want to remember in the morning. But tonight is a night of fun, relaxation, maybe some carnal delights?"
"I thought MDMA," I made a crooked droopy penis gesture with my finger, complete with sad trombone sound effect.
"Oh, it does. That was one of the things we worked the hardest on. That and the stability of the compound to make the effects last longer. But the, uh, ineffective dangly bits had to go. We did a fantastic job, if I do say so myself. Not only does everything work but the sex while you're on it is amazing. Ask my wife. Of course you know Jan?" He waved her over from a neighboring table. "I promise you, it would be the best sex of your life."
I gave him the side eye. "First off, I highly doubt that. Secondly, if you have to be on drugs for sex to be good, you're doing it wrong. And third, that wasn't really in my plan tonight."
Jan came over and we said our hellos. She slid seamlessly into the conversation. Apparently they'd been tag teaming all night convincing people to try this stuff. "No, really. You should do it. It's amazing. And it's not like you wouldn't have takers. I see a guy out on the dance floor right now who seems to be looking over here quite a bit."
Sure enough, Jax was out there dancing with Tash and Clint, but he was obviously keeping track of me. When he saw me looking at him, he grinned and started dancing in a way that I was certain was directed at me, fluttering his fingers toward me near his hips, trying to draw me in. I laughed, shaking my head.
Jan looked a little bit concerned, but continued, "Even if he is doing a slightly more refined version of casting a fishing pole at you to reel you onto the dance floor, he's still pretty hot. I think you have a shot there."
"I definitely have a shot. He's my..." Huh. There wasn't really a word for what he was. "We, uh, yeah. That's a sure thing."
She seemed impressed. "You've had some of that before? Really? He doesn't really look like your type. I though you went for, uh, smaller, paler, maybe a little more cerebral?"
I saw now where this was going. They wanted "the story". The Tale of the Failed Op. The Fiasco in New Mexico. The Tragedy of Dr. Banner. Everyone always wanted "the story". There were lots of rumors, bits and pieces of truth, but I never discussed the whole mess with anyone. Only Tate and Tash knew everything. These people weren't getting "the story". I'd worked to hard to put all that behind me.
"Yeah, no. I don't really have a type."
She waved away the blow off. "Anyway, he's gorgeous."
"You have no idea, Jan. His ass is a national treasure. Perfect, round, muscular, amazing definition...It isn't right, really."
"Sounds incredible. I'll bet it's really nice to just lay back and let him do whatever he wants to you-"
"Honey, I'm right here," Stan intoned at my other elbow.
"Sorry, darling! Just a bit of fantasy!"
I shook my head and reached back grabbing my champagne glass and taking a large swig. "You motherfuckers." I held up the glass and squinted into it. The tingling lime concoction was not what I'd expected.
Stan grinned. "You took your eye off your drink. You’ve known us long enough to realize we can't be trusted."
He wasn't wrong. I did know that. "Goddammit! Fuck it. You assholes win." I downed the rest.
Jan tittered and clapped her hands. "Now go out there and get 'em, tiger!"
They took the most perverse joy in their drug pushing. Those bastards really should have worked in Big Pharma.
I plunged out into the mass of pulsating bodies, straight into Jax's waiting arms.
"You changed your mind?" He smiled down at me. He'd seen me drink the hooch, obviously.
"Well, the Bernard's changed it for me." My tone was more exasperated than I'd intended.
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I don't mean anything. Let's just dance and have some fun, okay?" I knew he'd go into 'honor mode' and punch Stan in the face if he thought they'd fed me the concoction without my full consent. Marcus wore his code proudly on his chest: Death Before Dishonor. I didn't think there was a drug strong enough to make him forget that.
So I pulled him to me and he wrapped his arms around my waist. We didn't so much dance as sway a bit and probably for a much longer time than it seemed. Everything was slow despite the pace of the music, and the physical contact was heavenly. I didn't feel as if my mental faculties had diminished in any way, but empiric information was less important that sensory data. The desire to feel things under my fingertips, the pressure of his body against mine, all these sensations were heightened. I hated to admit it, but chem had done a good job with this one.
After a while, I whispered into his ear for him to come with me, taking his hand, dragging him through the corridors and back into the room we had vacated earlier. The door clicked shut behind us as I backed up toward the far wall, bringing his willing form with me the whole way. I stopped him with a hand pressed into his chest as I leaned against the wall, sighing, "You look really good in a tux." His smirk and tilt of the head told me he already knew that. "Take it off."
The smirk blossomed into a full grin as the jacket was pulled off and thrown towards the lab table. Soon the tie and shirt met similar fates and he stood before me in all his smooth shirtless glory.
I beckoned to him with the crook of a finger. "Get on your knees."
He acquiesced immediately, kneeling before me as I slipped the straps of my gown down my shoulders, shimmying it down into a pile at my feet. He reached up to hook his fingers around my panties, pausing as he waited for my nod of assent before pulling them down, leaving me nude but for the heels I'd threatened him with earlier. He lifted one leg up and braced it over his shoulder, giving his mouth full access to me.
Head thrown back, eyes shut tight, I felt every lick, every gentle suckle so acutely. Every second, each caress, bringing me a bit closer to nirvana until the door creaked and a surprised, "Oh!" sounded out, causing my eyes to pop open.
Clint and Natasha had obviously had the same idea: empty lab equals excellent place to have some fun. I found myself looking straight into Barton's eyes. Jax hadn't missed a beat, likely he hadn't even heard the door.
Tash was pulling Clint's arm back out the door as he protested. "We should just stay. She looked right at me! I don't think they care."
"No."
"But Nat! It's like live porn!"
"No."
The door clicked shut and I smiled. I really did love those guys and, he was right, I wouldn't have cared if they'd stayed. They'd definitely seen worse. S.H.I.E.L.D. was an environment that made for some weird relationships.
My fingertips grazed the smoothness of Marcus's scalp as I moaned my appreciation for the flutters of his tongue and the grazing of his teeth. He did not let up until the tightness inside me ruptured in the flood of my orgasm.
I slid my leg off his shoulder, reached down, and hooked my fingers under his chin, exerting gentle pressure and coaxing him to stand. Then I kissed him deeply, running my tongue all around his mouth, pulling back to nip at his lips. Because, maybe I’m a narcissist, but there are few things I enjoy more than the taste of myself on another person’s lips.
My mind wandered back to Jan Bernard’s words. I'll bet it's really nice to just lay back and let him do whatever he wants to you. Maybe it would be nice to let go of the reigns and see.
My fingers drifted over the hardness of his chest, along the lines of the eagle on his pec that held the banner with his code in it’s talons. “Tell me what do you want to do to me.” I didn’t really think about whether I’d regret that statement later. (Spoiler Alert: I regretted it.)
He was confused for a moment. “Really?”
“Really. Anything you want. It’s yours tonight.”
“Anything?” He reached his hands out to touch me but hesitated until I nodded my assent. Then I had two large hands fully encompassing my breasts. “These guys are amazing, you know? You don’t really let me see them.”
“I thought you liked the leather corset. You’re the one that bought it.”
“Oh, no, I do! It’s just...this is different.”
“It’s not that different, Marcus. Just tell me. What do you want?”
“Okay, okay. I can do this. I’m thinking.” And it was clear that he was thinking very hard. He knew an opportunity like this was unlikely to come along again. He thumbed my nipples and my breath caught as he answered, “I want to take you from behind while you’re bent over that table over there.”
“Really? That’s it?” He nodded. “Wow. That’s so...vanilla. I was expecting...I don’t know what I was expecting.” I moved over to the table, leaned over it, palms down, and spread my legs wide. “Like this?” I called out over my shoulder.
“Exactly like that.”
He moved behind me and ran his fingertips lightly all over my back, my hips, my thighs. Then his hands were gone and the distinctive sound of a zipper was quickly followed by the sensation of being filled completely and another full reach around but this time both hands on bare breasts. And, once again, Jan was not wrong. It did feel amazing to give up the control for once and let this powerful man go unchecked. He pounded into me with abandon, balls slapping my clit and sending me into a state of bliss rarely achieved. He suckled at my neck, pinched my nipples, let himself go in a way I hadn't been allowed to see before and I came hard and loud, grasping at him with my pussy and pushing him over the edge with me.
After a few moments of panting into my neck, he grabbed me around the waist and pivoted, collapsing on the floor with his back against the lab table’s base and my ass on his lap. His hand reached out, collecting the tuxedo jacket from the heap of clothes on the floor and laying it over the top of our bodies as we caught our breath.
“Okay, the Bernards were right. That was pretty great.”
I felt his laugh through my whole body. What a glorious feeling.
“It was,” he agreed. “You know what I want to do now?”
“No, what?”
“I want to take you back to my place, curl up on my couch and play Call of Duty til the sun comes up. Then, I want to take you to my bed, do this a few more times, and wrap my arms around you for the whole day.”
I turned my head to look him in the eye, “Your real bed? Not the Requirement bed?”
“Yeah. The real one.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “That sounds like a terrible idea. No crossing the streams! That’s not what we do!”
“Well,” he brought his lips down to my neck, “it could be what we do.”
I shook my head. “I’m not ready for that. Not even a little bit.”
“You said anything I wanted. Just for tonight.”
“Maybe. Just for tonight.” My ass had slipped off of his leg and onto the cold floor, prompting me to wonder why we were here in this lab. “Do you have a pod here? I have a pod here. Why are we sitting on this freezing marble floor?” Most of us kept one of the little rooms in HQ with just a bed and a few personal effects, as well as our off site accommodations. It was nice to have a place to crash after missions and things without having to travel out of the city.
“You know, I have an Xbox in mine. We should go there. A little co-op Halo, maybe?”
I agreed and we threw our clothes back on, heading up the elevator to the boarding rooms. It was damn near impossible to not give in to whatever Jax wanted, much as I knew it would be weird the next day. After all, I had promised him anything. Just for tonight. And the lightness generated by the chem department’s elixir just made me not care. So he ended up with exactly what he’d asked for that night-video games and a day’s worth of cuddling. And after that, back to normal.
Except that's not really possible, is it? Nights like that change a relationship, for better or for worse. And that night did change us. It was different after that even though I tried my hardest not to let it alter our friendship. There was no way it couldn't.