ostavil | open post

Natasha shouldered her duffel as she stepped out of the Uber, gazing up at the impressive three-story brownstone. Hmm, apparently this client had roots here in Brooklyn, and opted to renovate and rehabilitate his own living space himself. Given that he was a top-tier engineer for Stark Industries, she wasn't too surprised, but the niggling curiosity of why such a corporate lion would even need someone like her had only grown since she'd received this assignment.

Nevertheless, the negotiated salary was more than worth the formal party tonight and the long weekend afterwards. So she paid the driver, let herself into the small gated yard, and lugged her bags up the steps and rang the doorbell. She was very sensibly dressed in a soft sweater, nicely-fitted jeans, and sensible flats, with her long curls pulled into a comfortable ponytail. The client had specifically requested casual clothes as the norm, so she'd left her "racier" outfits for later.

Bucky had never thought himself the type to have to hire someone to pretend to be his girlfriend but at this point in his life, he doesn't have the time to date and no one would want to date someone whose left arm is metal. It's a wonder of modern engineering, a joint project between he and Tony Stark himself, but he's sure that no woman would want to be touched by it or see it in bed.

A woman he pays for, though, would endure that as part of the contract. He hates to think of it that way, enduring, but he guesses that women who get paid for these things have negotiated all sorts of contracts in their time. The woman he's contracted to pose as his girlfriend is named Natasha and when he'd looked through the pictures while picking, she'd been the one he'd wanted most. She's petite and curvy and he imagined himself doing more than just taking her to a party which is more than he can say for the other women.

When he hears the doorbell, he comes downstairs and opens the door. He's not dressed up either and he's sporting jeans and a plain shirt, his hair tied back.

"Hi, Natasha. Come on in? I'm James. Or Bucky. Whatever you prefer."

The door opened, revealing the lord of the house, and Natasha blinked. She'd looked over his dossier, of course, which included a full biography and a photo, but God, he was even more gorgeous in person. Tall, broad, thick; it was going to be the easiest thing ever, posing as this man's girlfriend.

"Hi," she replied to his greeting, smiling professionally. "James is fine. And thanks."

She stepped into the house, inhaling the subtle scent of his cologne and liking it. Then she paused in the foyer, gazing around curiously. The place was tastefully decorated, comfortable-looking furniture, and a few masculine knick-knacks here and there.

"Thanks for the work," she told him with a soft little smile. "Anywhere specific you'd like me to put my stuff?"

"I've got a room for you upstairs with a walk in closet," Bucky says, holding his hands out for her duffel bag. It's the least he can do to carry her things upstairs because he'd do that for anyone but especially a girlfriend. When he smiles, he knows it's a little shy.

"I thought you might like the option of your own space if you didn't always want to stay in my room so I set that room up for you. If nothing else, it means you have a whole closet to yourself and you don't have to worry about running out of space. Can I take your bag up for you?"

"Sure." She handed over the heavier duffel, quirking an eyebrow when she caught sight of his left hand. It was truly a technical marvel, and she'd studied the specifications of his arm before ever arriving here. "Sounds good." She had the inkling that she wouldn't be using the room for anything but the space, if all went well.

"Nice prosthetic, too." Might as well get it all out into the open. "Fully functional, too. Fine motor skills. Really impressive. Stark Tech?"

Bucky lets out a surprised noise when Natasha calls attention to his prosthetic and barely keeps from tripping. He does everything he can to hide it, genuinely, and while he and Tony had spent a long time perfecting the design and it was a great piece of engineering, it's not something he wants attached to him. He wishes it's something that just belongs on other people.

"Uh...yeah. I know we haven't talked about the particulars of the arrangement yet but I don't normally talk about it. It makes me uncomfortable to discuss the prosthetic. It's all right here in the house but I really try to keep it secret in public. I was planning on keeping it secret from you as much as I could."

He doesn't know how he would, considering sex would probably end up on the table, but he'd imagined it would be a future problem. He guesses he's dealing with it now.

Natasha figured she'd just found the reason why the man thought he had to pay for companionship, given his reaction to her innocuous comment. Not at all surprised by his reaction, she paused behind him on the stairs, then gave an understanding nod.

"Got it. But I really don't mind, James." She shrugged slightly. "It doesn't bother me." Then a smile. "I actually think it's pretty cool." Then the smile slanted into a grin. "Annnnd, given what you hired me for, I'd have found out sooner or later, right? I thought sooner would be better."

"Right, of course," Bucky says. He has a long stride so it doesn't take him long to get up the stairs and to her room, which is on the right side of the hall; his own is on the left. There's a guest bathroom and then there's an en suite off his own bedroom and he imagines she'll use his more often than not. Thinking about that, he'd bought some lotions and new, soft towels for Natasha to use while she she was here. He wants her to be comfortable.

He puts the bag down in the guest room and he turns to face her, trying to be calm and collected even though his heart is racing entirely too fast. God. This is pathetic.

"We should probably discuss the particulars, right? I don't want to do anything that you don't like."

The interior is nice; upstairs furnished just as well as downstairs, and she imagined his workroom was on the third floor. Natasha followed James into the guest room, placing her purse and smaller bag on the bed before taking a seat on it herself, as if testing its firmness and springiness.

She could sense that he was nervous; a dead cat on the sidewalk would have picked that up, so she smiled to put him at his ease, and nodded in response.

"That's a good idea, definitely." Pulling a leg beneath her, Natasha laced her fingers around that knee and gave Barnes her full attention. "The contract said you were looking for 'companionship', an 'escort', to a formal business function, I think, and for me to stay until Monday." All good, so far.

"Now, would you like sex included in your package? You selected the premium option, which includes physical intimacy, but I always ask beforehand. Anything bedroom-specific you're interested in?"

Right. The sex. He'd selected that premium package on the hopes that he would have sex with her but he didn't know that he'd have to plan it out. It makes sense. Out of every transaction involved in this, this one should have the most rules attached.

"Uh, I got tested," Bucky says awkwardly, fumbling through his nightstand for the paperwork. "So we wouldn't have to use condoms. I know that was a requirement. I mainly just want it to feel like you're my girlfriend and that it was a long-term thing. I want it to feel natural. How specific do I have to be about stuff I like?"

She smiled, appreciating the information. "That's fine. I'm clean, too. My medical is available in the email link, if you're ever curious. And, since we're being candid, I had a forced hysterectomy several years ago - female complications, et cetera - so pregnancy isn't a problem, either." Natasha let a little wobble into her voice when she admitted that; it'd sell the cover much better.

Straightening, she put a business smile back in place, and scooted a little higher on the bed, getting comfortable. "Well, that's up to you. I'm not really into the S and M scene, that's a different package. But I don't mind a little rough sex, spanking," she began to tick off on her fingers, "oral sex, giving or receiving, sex in odd places, like the shower, vehicles, kitchen, and I'm good with most usual positions, but if you have a certain fetish or whatever, just let me know and we'll talk about it."

Dark lashes batted a few times over bright green eyes. "Deal?"

The things she lists cover anything he might want but he does color a little at I'm not really into the S and M scene, that's a different package. It makes sense people would pay for that but it's definitely not something he just talks about in the doorway on a regular basis.

"This is probably a dumb question," Bucky says, knowing it's stupid before he even offers it. "But I just...I don't want you to fake it. So if you're not enjoying it, I want to know so I can help you enjoy it. That's the only thing I ask."

And why didn't this man have women following him around in herds? Well, probably because he seldom ever left the house, according to the dossier she'd been given. There was a much more thorough file on him from her actual employers than the agency whom she was currently representing had compiled. So.

Still, the response made her chuckle, and she blushed herself, lowering her lashes "modestly". "Oh, James," she said then, looking back up at him, "you won't have to worry about me faking it." Then those green eyes slowly traveled over him, from head to toe, a blatant female appraisal. "Trust me on it."

Indulging herself for a moment or so more, "Natalie" then patted the bed beside her. "Come sit with me a second. Let's try something, ok?" Her ponytail tossed lightly, another low little laugh escaping. "Promise I won't bite...unless you want me to."

It's probably a good idea to get comfortable with her before they go out to Stark's party because everyone will see through them if he's acting like he's a teenage boy on his first date. When she suggests sitting beside her on the bed, Bucky sits down and shakes his head at her suggestion.

"I don't think biting is a good idea right now," he says, laughing softly. "We still have to go out tonight and it might show up if we actually did that."

She scooted a little closer when he sat, placing a hand on the muscled thigh next to hers. "Might make it more believable though, right?" Not at all shy, Natalie leaned over and very delicately kissed Bucky's cheek, letting her lips linger. "Relax," she breathed at his ear. "Just let me touch you, okay?"

It was in his file that he'd been in an explosion overseas, resulting in his Purple Heart and honorable discharge from the Army Rangers, but also why he was so self-conscious about his body. The loss of his arm had been devastating, and the PTSD he now carried a direct result of it. If he really wanted this sort of intimacy, he was going to have to learn to accept it.

"You can touch me, too, James," she told him, smoothing her other hand through his dark hair. "Anywhere you want, baby."

Bucky hasn't been called "baby" by anyone in longer than he can remember - since before he went overseas, for sure - and it almost throws him for a loop before he realizes this is what he paid for. He paid for it to be natural and established so that no one would be the wiser when he went to the gala later on.

If he's going to do this, he's going to have to be comfortable touching her, and truthfully he does want to touch her. He skims his right hand down her back and slips it under her shirt just enough to let his palm touch bare skin. He doesn't move it any more, though, and just lets himself get comfortable.

A promising start, at least. Natalie smiled against Bucky's skin, teasing him a little with soft little kisses beneath his ear, down the slope of his jaw, and back up over his cheek. The hand on his thigh began to softly stroke, rubbing along the inseam of his jeans, while the other drifted gently over his shoulders, mapping out the defines muscles in his back.

"This is nice, da?" It was a sultry whisper, her nose nuzzling gently beneath his ear even as she moved sinuously under his hand, inviting him to take a little more. "Turn your head," she instructed quietly. "Let me kiss you, James." Because paid or not, she really wanted to.

Everything she's doing feels really good, actually, and while he's a little surprised she's initiating a kiss, this is what he's paid for right? To be natural. To feel real. He'd kiss his girlfriend if she was actually his girlfriend and honestly, if this was just a date and it went well, he'd kiss Natalie then too.

He turns his head and tries to let go of his anxiety about his arm and just enjoy himself for a little while. This is a woman who doesn't care about all that, that just wants to kiss him anyway.

"Please?"

So she shifted even closer, propping a knee on the mattress to get both of her arms around his thick neck, and tilted her head just before capturing his mouth with hers. Unsurprisingly, his mouth was soft, sweet, and deliciously kissable.

Taking even more initiative, Natalie maneuvered astride one hard thigh, her right hand slipping down the back of that metal arm and coaxing him to put it around her slender waist, too.

She didn't give him time to protest, sliding her tongue between his lips before he could, and licked at his lush lips. She knew she was soft, warm, and inviting; and the man in him wouldn't be able to resist for very long.

It surprises him that she slides her hand down his left arm like it's nothing, like it's just like the right, and guides it to wrap around her. He doesn't really have time to think about it before he's holding her in both arms and kissing her deeply, much more than he'd kiss someone for a first time.

But exactly the way you'd kiss your girlfriend, his mind supplies and that's true. The last time he'd had a relationship, it'd felt like this.

He slips his right hand up to cup the back of her head and holds it there while he deepens the kiss a little bit more.

So far, so good. She kissed him until she needed to break away for a quick breath of air, and smiled against Bucky's mouth. "...well," came her sultry drawl, followed by another soft, light kiss, "I think you and I are gonna get along just fine, baby."

Still seated astride his thigh, Natalie shifted a bit, giving the both of them just the tiniest bit of friction. "You wanna keep going and be fashionably late tonight, or is this is good stopping point?" Her lashes half-lowered as she amended, "...at least until later, da?"

"We should be on time," Bucky says, though there's a regretful note in his voice. He guesses it isn't going to be that difficult at all to do this as long as he turns his brain off and just stops overthinking it. He cups Natalie's cheek with his right hand.

"So I guess we can pick up later, if you're feeling up to it. I would say we should go late but Tony will be late so I should be there on time to represent the company in his stead."

"Fair enough." Natalie obligingly slid off of Bucky's lap, smoothly stepping over to her duffel to start laying out her things for the coming party. "If I'm posing as your girlfriend, we'll need to coordinate some details, too." Her smile flashed at the excitement of the clandestine.

"Like where we met, how long we've been dating, our favorite things to do together, that sort of stuff."
She pulled out a slinky green gown, covered with sequins, and hung it on the top of the closet door. "Any ideas?"

Turning back to her duffel, she offered, "As for me, I'm Natalie Rushman, I'm originally from Los Angeles, but moved to New York to go to college for computer networking. That gives us somewhat of a common denominator, huh?"

"We met at a coffee shop, I think," Bucky says. It's a little boring but he thinks that he can work with it. "No, no, I've got it. You were dropping your friend off at the doctor and I was waiting for therapy. I was reading an engineering journal and you asked me about it - because of your degree. I got your number before you left and that's how we got together."

It seems natural enough, honestly, and therapy is the only place he really goes besides home and work - he even has his groceries delivered at this point. No time for anything else.

"You wouldn't even have to talk shop for that - you're in networking, not in engineering, so nobody would expect you to know what I'm going on about anyway other than broad strokes."

Pretending to consider, Natalie finally gave a nod, pulling a pair of white diamond heels out of their bag. "I like it," she approved, placing the shoes on the floor near the bed. "And I prefer tea over coffee, purple is my favorite color, I wear Chanel perfume, I bite my fingernails and can't carry a tune in a bucket." She laughed, admitting the last two.

Moving to the dresser, she began taking out her cosmetics and other ladies' paraphernalia, even flourishing the perfume bottle a little playfully. "See?" She sprayed her wrist lightly, then held it out for him to sniff. "You like?"

Girlfriend AU

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