Dancing in the Dark (for farmboyhawk)

[study_in_scarlet]

They didn’t get a lot of time off together, at least not enough to make a trip away worthwhile, so for this one weekend they decided to stay in the city and play tourist for the day.

They had started with a walk through Central Park before grabbing an early lunch at one of the city’s many street vendors and then wandering through the American Museum of Natural history. Natasha found the Hall of Minerals fascinating while Clint had gotten a kick out of all the dinosaur bones. They both enjoyed laying under the big blue whale with all the normal people.

Afterwards they went to a nice restaurant for supper, blending into the crowd of normal couples as best they could and Natasha actually forgot if she was playing a role or being herself as they finished their wine and shared their desserts.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely as they left the restaurant, stepping back into the cool night air. Nearby a busker played guitar and sang with surprising melody and soul, barely seeming to notice as people threw change into his open case, so caught up was he in his music.


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[study_in_scarlet]

Natasha held his gaze, that soft, understanding smile remaining on her lips. “I know,” she replied, and she meant it. She knew how hard it was for him, this wasn’t the first time they had discussed it. She knew and she understood and she respected that feeling. She didn’t want to push him nor make him uncomfortable, she never wanted him to be uncomfortable with her. No matter what they did she was glad that they were always honest with each other, and that was enough.

“I won’t push you,” she continued quietly, stealing another quick kiss. “Just know that I’ll be ready when you are.”

It was what he had offered in the very beginning of their partnership. He knew so much about her life from the research that was done on her, but he never tried to speak with her about it, never tried to push her to talk, to open up, to trust him. He had just waited, had told her his stories and opened up to her until she was comfortable enough to do the same.

Ducking her head she nuzzled against his neck, his jaw, until her lips reached his ear. “I love you,” she whispered. “No matter what.”

[farmboyhawk]

Her touch was warm and reassuring, her words soothing, and Clint allowed himself to melt back into her embrace with a soft sigh. He didn't know what he had done to deserve such an amazing, understanding woman by his side. Every of her gently whispered words sank into his heart and calmed the storm that the last days, the last hours had left. At least until the next crisis, but that was okay. They had proven that they could get through these, especially since they had stopped hiding from their feelings entirely.

"Love you, red", he answered quietly, emotion still thick in his voice, his fingertips drawing tender circles on her neck and shoulders. He didn't think there was any better feeling on this whole planet than Natasha snuggling her bare, soft body close to his, the sweet smell of her hair surrounding him and her calm, deep breathing against his chest.

He wanted to drown in her, give himself over to this feeling completely, and it was frustrating to himself that he made that so seldom, especially after fantastic encounters like the one just a few minutes ago. Knowing that Natasha didn't hold it against him helped. He still made a mental note to work on this weakness. It was important for both of them to be able to fall like that, knowing that the other one was there to catch, especially for times when it happened outside the bedroom.

"Little pushing sometimes might just help, you know", he murmured, lost in thought. "I kind of like the way you do it."

He chuckled and turned his head to seek Natasha's lips once more.

[study_in_scarlet]

It was still pretty amazing how easy it was to speak the words. Admitting them the first time had been difficult, though admitting them to herself had been the hardest. Now it felt so natural she wondered why it had taken her so long. Of course she knew that it was fear that had kept her so long in check, but she was glad that it was a fear she had faced an conquered. Hearing him say it back certainly didn’t hurt, and she smiled against his skin.

She considered his words while they kissed. There were ways to push without going too far; it was something that Clint was an expert at. Not so much the pushing, but knowing how to read her, knowing when to pull back, when to ask, when to wait for confirmation before continuing. She could do that to. Learn his limits, slowly push the boundaries, and always give him time, always make him confirm it all.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said against his lips. “Just know you can stop me any time.”

[farmboyhawk]

Clint just nodded with another, slightly shy smile, because he felt they had said all it needed for the moment. Closing both arms around her waist, he pulled her as close to him as possible without hurting her and reveled completely in her warmth, both from the in- and outside. His mind was too busy to be going to sleep already but that was okay. Just lying here with her, and basking in the afterglow of their game, in silence, was all he needed right now.

When his mouth began to feel dry from the air conditioning, he reluctantly let go off Natasha with one hand to reach for the water bottle on the night stand. It was only then when he remembered he had brought something for reloading their batteries. He took a quick sip from the bottle before handing it to Natasha and then moved away from her, just enough to place that small plate with chocolate between them. Though it had been in the fridge, by now the edges of the small pralines had melted and made the perfect snack before bedtime.

"Think I can seduce you?"

[study_in_scarlet]

They had never been good at talking over every detail, and Natasha was perfectly fine with letting it go with that. They had said what they needed to, they knew where they stood, and anything further they could deal with as it came.

When Clint pulled her closer she ended up half laying on him, a position she was entirely okay with. Laying her head on his chest, she listened to the steady thrum of his heartbeat and felt the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, both having returned to normal now. For a long time she focused only on these, her eyes often closing though she didn’t sleep.

Eventually he stirred and she reluctantly gave him some space, though she accepted the water with a smile of gratitude. Taking a long drink, she was about to hand it back to him when he set the plate of chocolates between them. Propping her head on her hand she set the bottle beside it and grinned at him.

“You can try...” she replied.

[farmboyhawk]

"Wouldn't be fun if it was easy."

Clint grinned at her widely and laid back on the pillow, reaching for one the pralines. Just to show off a little he closed his eyes before he threw it and caught it perfectly between his lips. He left it there for a moment to leave a bit of chocolate before swallowing and then licked the chocolate off his fingers with a satisfied hum. The mild sensory deprivation of his closed lids made the nougat all but explode on his tongue - and definitely didn't help his weakness for sweets - and the hum turned into a pleasured moan.

"I know, I keep talking about the ice cream, but they know how to do chocolate here just as well..."

He cracked one lid open to look at Natasha, licking his lips slowly, and reached for the next praline.

"Give it a shot?"

[study_in_scarlet]

Always the showman, Clint of course threw the praline blindly, and hit his mark perfectly. She watched the chocolate melt slightly, coating his lips; watched him lick those long, skilled fingers, and by the time he was moaning at the delicious taste she was licking her own lips in anticipation.

It was so tempting to lean over and lick the chocolate from his lips, but that would be giving in too easily, so she put on an air of indifference when she noticed he was looking at her, though she was certain he had caught her watching the trail of his tongue around his lips first.

“You hit me in the eye and that’s going up your nose,” she threatened before opening her mouth for him to toss the chocolate in. Not that she truly believed he would ever miss.

[farmboyhawk]

"Well, thank God I have yet to be too tired for that to happen."

Clint just grinned at the threat, though she was perfectly capable of following through with it. But while he might not have much skills or knowledge otherwise, he knew what he was doing with his hands, alright. The praline hit its target perfectly and he made a triumphant noise for the show before he licked his fingers clean again, never taking his eyes of Natasha.

Sometimes a little bit of fun was exactly what the doctor recommended after too heavy talking.

[study_in_scarlet]

As usual Clint’s aim was perfect and the praline landed squarely on Natasha’s tongue. Watching his childlike victory celebration she rolled her eyes, though the motion was in direct contrast to the smile on her lips. If throwing food at her entertained him this much then who was she to argue?

Letting the chocolate melt a little on her tongue, when the taste finally hit her she let out a pleasurable noise of her own. “Okay, these are amazing,” she conceded, closing her eyes and savouring the taste. “With food like this I’m never leaving.”

[farmboyhawk]

"Fine with me", Clint answered, smiling, as if she had just proposed to have meat for diner tomorrow, and then went on eating another piece of chocolate as if nothing had happened. Well, they were on holiday, after all, so a little dreaming was allowed, right?

He stretched out on his back comfortably with the praline between his lips and again took his time enjoying it, watching Natasha just from the corner of his eyes. Of course he had caught her rolling her eyes on him and totally agreed with her. Sometimes the stupid got the better of him. But she was also smiling, and that was worth it everytime.

[study_in_scarlet]

Clint’s answer was not surprising, and while it was just a light, joking conversation, Natasha was pretty sure that if she had claimed seriously that she never wanted to go back to New York that he would be on board.

Part of her wanted to do exactly that.

She knew it was just a dream, that S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn’t just let two of their best agents go AWOL, but part of her wanted to try. It was stupid, people had babies all the time, so why should it change anyone’s opinion of her? And why should she care if it did? Then, of course, there was the future of the child to think of. How fair would it be to the baby growing up with two parents going off on dangerous missions all the time?

Cart ahead of the horse, she reminded herself. She still had a long ways to go before the child was born, and a lot could happen in that time.

On top of all of that, though, was Clint’s well being. He still had his moments, even here, where the past haunted him, but he seemed much lighter, much freer her than he had since before Loki had taken him. Just seeing him as he was now, smiling and playful and relaxed, was incentive enough to want to make it last forever.

Picking up the plate Natasha set it on his stomach so she could shift closer and resume her place at his side. Plucking one of the chocolates from the dish, she placed it carefully on his nipple before grinning at him.

[farmboyhawk]

Clint shivered at the sudden cold feeling of the ceramic against his skin and cracked one eye open to see what Natasha was up to. It definitely seemed a lot more entertaining than starting to think about their current situation and how to go from here again, when they wouldn't know for another few weeks if they actually had to worry about it. For the moment he was more than happy, pushing it away as often as possible. The next panic attack would come soon enough.

His eyebrow went up slowly when she chose such a strategic dangerous spot for that praline, and he had to stifle a laugh. That would have put an end to these kind of adventures pretty soon, with the plate falling off from from muscle contractions.

Well, shit.

"Your turn to seduce now?", he asked, grinning, trying his best to keep still in spite of certain blooming ideas .

[study_in_scarlet]

Natasha could tell he was trying not to laugh and it only made her grin wider. Yes, this was much better than wallowing and trying to plan for a future that wasn’t certain yet. She was determined not to let anything bring down the mood tonight.

“Maybe...” she said, drawing out the word teasingly. “Or maybe we should make it a contest. See who can seduce the other first.”

[farmboyhawk]

Clint had to stifle another laugh. Somehow he doubted, he had good chances when the job was to resist Natasha... But no one was to say he shied away from a challenge.

"Give it your best shot."

He pretended not to notice that piece of chocolate on his skin slowly starting to melt and concentrated on Natasha instead. He moved his arm from the pillow carefully around her, doing his best to not let that plate do as much as tremble, and caressed her neck gently while he waited for her next move.

[study_in_scarlet]

Natasha felt his muscles tense as he tried not to laugh, but she somehow managed to keep her expression challenging and playful.

“Oh, I don’t think this needs my best shot,” she replied. Clint could probably set his mind to resisting her if he really wanted to, but his body was another story, and alone with nobody to see or interrupt... why should he want to?

Running one hand along the bottom of his ribs, she pressed herself against his side and ducked her head. At first she just lightly traced around the edge of the praline with her tongue, catching just a trace of the melting chocolate, before catching what was left of it between her lips. Once she was done with the treat there was, of course, some clean-up, and she took her time sucking on his nipple, her tongue swirling around it and her teeth grazing from time to time.

[farmboyhawk]

Natasha wasted no time doing business and she definitely didn't show mercy. Clint drew in a sharp breath at the first teasing touch of her mouth and stifled a curse when the plate shifted dangerously. Somehow he made it to balance it back with just moving his muscles but that definitely hadn't been the last time. Natasha was much too fucking good for that.

It needed just a few clever strokes of her tongue to leave his nipple hard and sensitive and get his breath going faster. He had to keep his muscles taut and ready for all these little shivers that her hot breath against his skin elicited, and try not to lose his concentration while watching her beautiful lips at work. Both not exactly easy.

"At least I'm getting another workout tonight", he remarked with half a grin. "You know, if we did this more often I actually might warm up to the gym..."

[study_in_scarlet]

AT that first touch he almost knocked the plate over, but he managed to steady it again without even using his hands. Of course it would be a shame to make a mess with their treats, but she wasn’t about to let up on him either so Natasha continued her teasing, relishing in every quick breath and tightening muscle, until the skin was red and sensitive under her mouth.

“I’m just looking out for you,” she said, placing a chaste kiss on his hard nipple. “Have to keep you fit and healthy.” Selecting two more candies from the dish, she placed one on his other nipple and left it to melt a little before lifting her head to meet his eyes again. “Although...” she continued slowly, running the other praline along her lips and leaving a thin layer of chocolate behind, “The gym is not nearly as fun...” Resting the chocolate between her lips, she cocked an eyebrow at him, daring him to take it.

[farmboyhawk]

"We'll just have to build one at home then, so we can do this everytime I'm too lazy to work out. Got a few ideas for what to do with you while I'm busy doing weights and all..."

Clint's eyes darkened visibly when he watched Natasha play around with her little treat. She was a goddamn running temptation even if she wasn't trying and when she was actually teasing him, his body immediately forgot that they had already been through one or the other round tonight. He hardly ever needed an excuse to kiss her, so that delicious layer of chocolate waiting on her beautiful lips was just begging to be taken, but he recalled just in time that moving was a very bad idea right now.

Instead he tightened his hand on her neck and pulled her down with an aroused little sigh to steal that praline from her lips and then slowly, thoroughly run his tongue over every single inch until her skin came off clean and all he could taste was sweet and Natasha, a mixture definitely made in heaven.

[study_in_scarlet]

“A few ideas, hmm?” Natasha replied, a genuinely curious note in her voice. She enjoyed when Clint let his imagination wander. Sometimes he came up with some pretty ridiculous ideas, but other times they were very good indeed. “Like what?”

Clint almost forgot himself and upset the dish, but he remembered, pulling her down for the kiss instead. It was so slow and so sensual, his tongue cleaning every hint of chocolate from her lips, that Natasha could feel her own arousal stirring again. The things he could do with that tongue never failed to get her hot.

Drawing back just enough to breath, she ran her tongue over her lips and smiled at him. “These may be my new favourite candy.”

[farmboyhawk]

"Hmmm..."

Clint ran his fingertips playfully from Natasha's neck to her cheek and over her slightly swollen lower lip, while he pretended to think about his answer. In truth he only had to try to keep his breath under control or that plate would fall off in no time. And breathing calmly wasn't exactly easy with certain arousing pictures on his mind.

"I was thinking, you could join me on that workout bench... Just saying... You don't have to wear clothes to train, right? But of course you would only move when I do my weights like a good boy... Couldn't think of a better motivation..."

His hand wandered slowly down her body until he reached the heated skin between her legs, and again he had to stifle a hard shiver when he realized, this turned her on as much as him. He ran just a fingertip gently through her folds, more teasing than anything, and licked his lips slowly to emphasize his words.

"Or you know, on leg day... You could just kneel over me so I have a nice view while I press that damn bench, and when I'm doing good enough, I get a little tongue workout to go with it..."

[study_in_scarlet]

Clint was the picture of control as he relayed his plans to her, but she could tell he had to concentrate to restrain himself. Of course he didn’t restrain his hand, though, and she bit her lip to hold back any verbal reactions to his gentle teasing. With the stress and the fatigue of recent days it had been a while since she’d felt this voracious, and luckily Clint seemed just as insatiable.

Closing her eyes as he spoke, she let herself envision the scene he described, her hips twitching involuntarily. “I can see why this workout wouldn’t be feasible in a shared facility,” she said, opening her eyes to meet his again. “Or you could always bench press me.”

Smiling at him, she remembered the other praline she had laid out earlier that was more than sufficiently melted by now. After stealing one more quick kiss she leaned over him to attack his other nipple with the same focus she had given the first.

[farmboyhawk]

"Sounds like another good plan. We'll work out a routine."

Grinning, Clint stretched out a little and removed his hand from its playground for the moment, trying to keep things low. If he started touching Natasha now, really touching, they would be all over each other in seconds. This playful mood was too much fun for that.

He brought his hand to his mouth to suck on that certain fingertip with a quiet hum and a grin that didn't last long when Natasha went back to her sweet torture. The air was already heavy with hormones and growing arousal, so it wasn't much of a surprise that his gathered self-control went out of the window immediately. The perfect wet warmth of Natasha's mouth sent little sparks of arousal right to his groin, and her teeth left his skin just on the perfect side of too sensitive, taut and asking for more. Before he knew, she had him moaning and the muscles especially of his lower body twitch uncontrollably...

And well, that was when he remembered, there was a plate balancing on his body. With something between a curse and a chuckle, he reached out to catch it, just in time before everything could fall off. A praline landed perfectly between two fingers in the process which was of course the best excuse to throw it into his mouth while he was on it. Well, at least his aim wasn't off yet.

[study_in_scarlet]

She could feel his muscles tightening underneath her, and his breath speeding up, but she didn’t stop, didn’t show any mercy. When he moaned she just stepped it up, using her teeth to nip at his sensitive skin, rolling it between her top teeth and her tongue.

Suddenly he shifted, his hand moving quickly to catch the plate, and Natasha lifted her head, her face lighting up with a wicked and victorious grin. She was pretty sure that counted as him being thoroughly seduced.

Looking down at the plate then back up at Clint she stole a candy from the plate and popped it into her mouth before flopping over onto her back beside him, triumphant.

[farmboyhawk]

In the light of Natasha's amusingly childish, happy behavior, Clint couldn't stay grumpy for long that he had lost it. She would always be the one person he enjoyed surrendering to.

Of course he couldn't let her know that so easily. Removing that plate quickly to the other side of the bed in safety, he rolled onto her nude, waiting body and grabbed her wrists, pushing them up over their head with a challenging, heated look in his eyes. As usual, he made sure not to hold her tight enough to hurt, and Natasha being Natasha, she could free herself in seconds anyway, but sometimes he just enjoyed the thrill too much.

"You..."

He lowered his head to her neck and gave it a little bite before moving up to her ear.

"...are"

Her earlobe fell victim to his teeth next while he breathed against her body quickly and heavily, and certainly not from the little strain of holding her down.

"...a goddamn tease."

His lips came crashing down onto hers, tongue sneaking greedily into her mouth to catch the last of chocolate there.

[study_in_scarlet]

She was just asking for retaliation and Clint certainly didn’t disappoint. Letting out a laugh when he suddenly rolled over onto her, she quickly schooled her expression into one of defiance when he pinned her hands up over her head. She couldn’t hide how her breath and her heart sped up, though, nor that flash of excitement and desire in her eyes.

Drawing her bottom lip between her teeth, Natasha gave the slightest facsimile of a struggle, knowing she could easily free herself if she wanted to but wanting nothing of the sort. She managed to otherwise keep herself still even against Clint’s teasing nibbles, but when his lips descended upon hers she gave up all pretense. Kissing him back with equal fervor she arched her back, pressing her breasts against his chest as he swallowed her soft sounds of pleasure.