Learning Curves (NC-17)
“I hope you don’t salute everyone that way.”
“Nah,” Steve said. “Lying my way into the Army? Put a lot of honest work into that. No reason to get kicked out right away.”
“Uh-huh. And this work of yours, was it hard?”
Peggy snorted back a laugh.
Angie looked up from her examination of Steve’s cock with narrowed eyes. “Shut up, English. Or join in. But if you’re not joinin, shut up.”
“Carry on, carry on,” Peggy said from the armchair near the bed. “Your dialogue is just so terribly original, I couldn’t contain myself.”
Muttering something about critics and hecklers and hell, Angie returned her attention to Steve, shifting her knees on the bedspread. “So, if the serum made everything bigger, does that mean—”
Peggy snorted again. “You had to ask, didn’t you?”
Angie refocused on her, glaring. “As if you didn’t.”
“I did not, actually.”
Steve looked up at Angie. “The first time, no, she didn’t.”
“Knew it!” Angie crowed, smacking her hands together.
Peggy rolled her eyes. “You talk too much, the both of you.”
“Says the one who can’t hold in her giggles,” Angie retorted.
“I could leave,” Peggy said, half-rising from her chair only to be stopped by both her lovers. Triumphant, she sat back down. It would’ve been truly unfortunate had they called her bluff.
“I was kinda worried,” said Angie, back to studying Steve, rubbing him with both hands.
“About?” he asked from behind an obviously clenched jaw.
“You know. I’ve seen pictures of you before. Mostly the one Peg stole from your bosses. And hey, one lies to get into the Army, the other steals from them. You two really are a match.”
She hadn’t stopped touching him. Steve breathed out shakily. “You…you said you were worried?”
“Oh yeah. Well, with how scrawny you used to be and how you are now, I just wondered about things fitting okay, you know? I mean, if you dig a hole to put this little seed in, but then you try to plant this full-grown tree trunk there instead—”
“Tree trunk?” Steve repeated, horror in his voice.
“I didn’t say that’s what it was. It’s not. It’s completely fine.”
Steve looked at Peggy. “Fine. Well, that’s good.”
“Well it ain’t like I have much to compare to, I haven’t even seen one of these in years.”
“Something I’m very appreciative of, darling.”
Peggy’s comment and the smirk that came with it was ignored. “And I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I talk when I’m nervous, alright?”
Peggy bit back a consoling remark about how this was a good thing, since it made hard for most people to tell when Angie was nervous. With effort, she stayed quiet.
Steve reached up to touch her cheek. “There’s nothing to be nervous about.”
“You’re the one trembling.”
“Okay, I’m nervous too, but the trembling also has something to do with where you’re sitting.”
Angie looked down, as though only just realizing she’d been straddling Steve’s hips for many minutes now. “Oh. Yeah.”
Peggy frowned. Angie’s expression seemed to be one of contemplation more than anything else, but she felt the need to break her vow of non-interference. “Angie. Nothing needs to happen here.”
“No, of course not.” Steve’s tone was impressively sincere, considering how long Angie had been teasing him.
“No, it’s not…I want to. Didn’t think I would, thought this would be all you two but I want this. With you,” she said, pushing an errant lock of hair back from Steve’s eyes. “Even if you do have embarrassingly bad timing.”
Laughing, Steve sat up from where his head rested on the pillows, pulling Angie into a soft kiss. “I’m sorry for that,” he said after the contact broke. “Not sorry Peggy got to know you, or that I did.”
Peggy watched them gaze at each other. It was terribly sweet, intimate, tender. Peggy folded her hands to keep them from slipping past her skirt. She offered again to leave the room, feeling like an intruder. An exceedingly horny intruder.
“No,” Angie repeated. “I want this, but not without you.”
Steve nodded agreement and Peggy smiled, projecting confidence she didn’t feel. She’d committed many rules and regulations to memory, for her prep schools, the Special Forces, the SSR. There were no manuals or guidelines on how to proceed here. “Well then, I’ll remain a very honored guest. You two enjoy each other. And for God’s sake, relax.”
“Oh. Well now that you said that I’m fine,” Angie declared. “Never woulda thought of that on my own. Really English, that solves—”
Steve cut Angie short with a kiss, careful but insistent. Peggy was torn between mild irritation (he’d stolen her tried and true method) and pride that he was learning so fast. She unclasped her hands.
They kissed awhile, slow, cautious. Angie’s fingers found Steve’s hair, leaving it a tousled mess, leaving Peggy both amused and aroused. Steve found the spot on Angie’s neck that invariably made her shiver. He tightened his hold on her. “Good?”
Nails pressed into his shoulders, Angie’s lips glided over his jaw. The gasp she swallowed remained audible. “Yeah.”
Steve grinned, then turned his head to address Peggy. “Don’t suppose you’ll give me any hints?”
Peggy waved him off with one hand. The other dropped to her skirt. “You seem to be getting on well enough. And what is it they say, half the fun’s in getting there?”
Angie smirked. “Oh good. Least it’s not just me makin old, tired sex jokes now.”
Shifting in the chair, Peggy watched Steve discover Angie’s breasts. She could take pity on him, Angie being only the second woman he’d done this with. And she could take pity on Angie, who’d had romps with a few men years earlier “’cause it seemed like what she should do,” but wasn’t terribly experienced. But why help them along, really? They were perfectly capable of figuring this out on their own. Besides, her intervention might speed things along, and where was the fun in that when this uncertain, fumbling pace was so agonizingly perfect?
An uncharacteristic blush started at Angie’s neck and moved north as Steve cupped her right breast. Her eyes dropped down. “Sorry. I didn’t make out as good as English did in that department.”
It took Peggy too long to decipher that one. She was preoccupied with the contrast of Angie’s smaller breast in Steve’s large hand. “You’re gorgeous!” she blurted as soon as she realized what was said.
“That’s crazy, you’re beautiful!” Steve said at the same time.
They looked at each other. Angie looked between them. She blushed more, then laughed. “Okay then. If you two ever get bored of being shot at all day, I could use a couple publicists.”
“You’re perfect, Angie,” Steve insisted.
“Do you still have not the slightest idea of how amazing you are?” Peggy asked at the same time.
More looks between the three of them. More laughter, not just from Angie. Peggy didn’t think it possible to love Steve more than she already did. He kept surprising her. She thought about stopping the whole thing, making sure Angie knew that this wasn’t about comparison, it wasn’t meant to hurt any of them. Apparently her thoughts were showing.
“I love your voice, English, but let’s chat later, huh? I’m trying to get laid.”
Steve laughed until Angie squeezed him again, turning it into a groan. Peggy bit her lip to keep a straight face. “Yes, darling. My apologies, darling. As long as this preoccupation with size doesn’t become a recurring theme.”
Angie promised it wouldn’t, blew her a kiss, and continued on.
Steve learning about Angie’s nipples was a special kind of perfection. It took him about two seconds to realize that Angie was far more sensitive to breast play than Peggy, who grinned as his eyes widened. Recalling her own thrill at making that discovery was a simple but powerful thing. And when Steve tentatively drew a nipple into his mouth, pulling a strangled moan from Angie, well. Peggy licked her lips, imagining the hardened bud pressed against her own tongue. The hand below her stomach picked up speed, teasing her clit as Steve teased more pleasure from Angie.
For her part, Angie kissed and sucked along Steve’s neck and shoulders. And then came the bites. Peggy was honestly surprised that part had taken so long. Angie was always sulking over Peggy’s policy about marks, or lack of them. Steve though, he’d heal before dawn the next day, no fussing with obscene amounts of makeup. Peggy was slightly jealous, exorcising those feelings by changing the motion of her fingers and plucking a nipple with her free hand. That it didn’t affect her the way it did Angie hardly meant it didn’t affect her.
She was quite enjoying herself, suppressing for now the urge to attack them both. This time the watching would be more than enough. Until it wasn’t, until they just stopped. Steve released Angie’s left nipple with a small popping noise, his lip catching on the underside. Angie held onto him, but she’d halted her quest to mark him as thoroughly as possible. Two sets of blue eyes, darker than normal, regarded Peggy. “What?” she asked, partly concerned, partly annoyed by the interruption of such stimulating entertainment.
“You…you’re,” Steve shook his head.
“You’re gettin off,” Angie said without preamble.
Peggy nodded slowly. “Indeed. As were you, I thought. So?”
“So it’s fuckin hot,” Angie said.
“And distracting,” Steve added, softer and more hesitant than the woman in his lap.
Peggy rolled her eyes. “Bloody fucking…you,” she said pointing to Angie with her free hand. “What will you do if someone mucks up a line in one of your plays, throws the whole thing off? The show must go on, distractions or not, yes? And you,” she indicated Steve. “I’ve seen you debate baseball statistics with Dugan while we were being bombed and shot at. You should be able to handle this. For God’s sake, both of you, walk and chew gum!”
A brief silence followed. Somewhat surprisingly, Steve was the one to break it. “To be fair, Dugan never distracted me the way you did.”
Angie made a noise between a laugh and a snort. “So good to know. Hey Peg?”
Sighing, Peggy rolled her eyes again. “Yes, darling?”
“You’re not wearin anything under that skirt, are you?”
“No, darling.”
Angie shot Steve a look that managed to convey lust and long suffering in equal measure. “And she doesn’t want us distracted.”
“Given our plans for the evening, leaving them on seemed impractical.”
“Sure, English,” Angie said, nuzzling her head into Steve’s neck. She’d shown prior fascination with the height different between he and Peggy. “And if you ever wanna be impractical at one of my shows you’re so worried about—”
“I’m going to put the knickers back on.”
Steve and Angie made it clear that they found this to be a very bad idea.
“Well then. Walk and chew gum,” she repeated, leaning back in her chair.
Angie gave Steve a rather wicked smirk. “If anything’s gonna be in anybody’s mouth, I don’t think gum should be involved. And no chewing,” she added, somewhat more seriously. “At all.”
“I can handle that if you can,” Steve replied, possibly considering the bites she’d left on his upper body.
That deal struck, things moved along easily enough. Angie hovered over Steve, who’d leaned back against the pillows. Having made quick work of the condom they’d left on the bedside table, he had a loose hold on Angie’s hips, stabilizing without pushing. Angie stroked his chest and stomach, the muscles jumping visibly. She held his eyes for long moments, then found Peggy’s. Steve followed suit, turning his head to look at her properly.
Again she reacted too slowly, took too long to understand what they wanted. She was quick to act though once she figured it out. Standing, Peggy crossed to the bed, getting on her knees beside them. She trailed the hand they’d been so distracted by over Angie’s lips, letting her kiss and lick. She leaned down at the same time, mouth finding Steve’s. It was enough to make her chest hitch. She wasn’t used to it yet, the reality of Steve. With her, kissing her the way they’d never had time for during the war. She could’ve stayed there longer, indefinitely, but stopped herself. This was about Steve and Angie, and she would’ve remembered that even if Angie’s tongue hadn’t found a ticklish spot on her palm, jolting her into something like thought. Of course she would’ve remembered.
“It’s alright,” Peggy murmured, trying not to get completely derailed by Steve’s hardness so close to the wet pooling at Angie’s thighs. “Darlings. You’re so gorgeous together, I had no idea…” Derailed anyway. Perhaps she’d been a bit too quick with the gum metaphor. “You’re amazing, the both of you. It’s okay. I want you to feel good. Feel good together, if that’s what you want. I want to see you together, loves.”
So admitting that last part might’ve been a little selfish, besides serving as encouragement. But she knew damn well she couldn’t force either to do something they didn’t want, even if she’d had reason to try. Also, she was only human, dammit, and anyone with a pulse would’ve expressed the same desire.
Angie kissed her hard, cutting off any second-guessing. Pulling at Peggy’s blouse, she tore several buttons from the garment. “Stay,” she whispered, breath heavy. “Stay.”
Vaguely aware that she’d be tormented later (the half-open blouse revealing the fact that panties weren’t the only thing she’d shed for practicality’s sake) she looked a question into Steve’s eyes. He smiled, one hand leaving Angie’s hip and finding hers.
“Think you know I’ll go the rest of my life hoping you’ll never leave again,” he said, squeezing lightly.
Nodding, Peggy moved back a bit to give them some room, but didn’t return to the chair. Bless Howard and his obscenely large beds.
Her proximity seemed to calm whatever nerves had kept them from going further. As Peggy watched, Angie took Steve’s length in her hand, guiding it inside. She cried out sharply enough for Peggy to worry a moment. Then Angie sank down, slow, slow, biting her lip and moaning from the back of her throat. Steve let out a strangled noise. He was holding Angie steady again, and Peggy saw his muscles strain as he kept from pushing too hard on her hipbones.
“G-good?” Angie asked
Another choked sound, more like a chuckle. “Yeah. That’s a word for it.”
There was a bit of awkward yet endearing negotiation, Steve telling Angie to find something she liked, that he would follow. Absently, Peggy thought of him letting himself be led around the dance floor. She rubbed herself off as she did this, was about to take off the skirt that’d become rather annoying (the knicker reveal was over anyway) until further negotiation occurred. Angie wanted the skirt on. Peggy kept it without complaint.
She watched in awe as Angie shifted, ground down, learned how they fit together. Whimpering, Peggy worked the hand between her legs, imagining it inside Angie, her walls pulsing against Peggy’s fingers. Then she thought of being in Angie’s place. Steve in her, making her feel so full, closing the wound that even Angie could never heal.
They found a rhythm. It was roughly then that Angie realized just what her movements were doing to Steve. Slowing, she changed the angle a bit, bounced experimentally. Steve jerked, releasing a harsh breath.
Angie smirked. At him, then Peggy. The look was positively filthy. “I got Captain friggin America at my mercy, don’t I Peg?”
“You do indeed, my darling. Try to be gentle, his first time’s not long past.”
Steve faked an angry noise, started to mutter something until Angie reached down and back, cupping his balls. That shut him up impressively fast. “Right,” she said, smirk widening, and Peggy wondered if this was payback for that kiss/trick earlier.
Despite the taunt, they actually were gentle. Sometimes. During one of the moments they weren’t, the connection broke, Angie slipping free of Steve. Forgetting her vow to let them have their own fun, Peggy moved near Steve’s knees, half next to, half behind Angie. One hand at Angie’s back, she used the other to grasp Steve, enjoying the string of curse words she was able to pull from the country’s golden boy.
“I believe you’ve misplaced something,” Peggy said, breathing into Angie’s ear, touching Steve with a familiarity that shouldn’t have been possible.
“Seems so,” Angie said, pausing long enough to kiss Peggy. “Well, help a girl out, wouldja?”
“What?” Steve asked. “No jokes about falling off the horse?”
And now they were back to stale sex humor. “Don’t encourage her,” Peggy warned.
“You’re a thoroughbred, Soldier, and I’m persistent. And English, don’t you wanna help a girl out?”
That had never been in question. Angie didn’t need the pouty lips and the pleading eyes. Peggy kissed her to prove it, trapping Angie’s lower lip between her teeth. She was greedy about swallowing her sounds as she guided Steve back inside.
Crying out, Angie broke the kiss, making an incoherent noise of protest as Peggy moved away. Peggy hushed her, kissing her shoulders and nibbling her ear as she shifted. The new angle made it easier to rub Angie’s clit or stroke Steve, help guide his thrusts. She alternated between those, until Angie’s moans hit that certain pitch, wanton and desperate. Rubbing herself so her loves could focus on each other, Peggy turned the rest of her attention to Angie. While Steve pushed in again and again, teeth clenched and hips stuttering, Peggy circled Angie’s clit, timing the movement as best she could, considering her own state of arousal.
Angie screamed through the pleasure. Peggy redoubled her efforts, knowing from blissfully-earned experience that she was close.
“Slow!” Angie pleaded suddenly, one hand braced on Steve’s chest, the other on Peggy’s shoulder. “Slow, slower…”
Peggy frowned in surprise, but adjusted.
“No, English, you fast, you slow.”
Peggy blinked, then chuckled. Steve grunted and changed pace, eyed glued to Angie. “Better?”
Angie nodded, muffling a small noise against Peggy’s shoulder before straightening, pulling in a ragged breath. “Yeah…yeah. That, just, that’s good. That’s really good.”
“You’re okay?”
“Don’t…don’t fuss, Steve. As learning curves go, this one’s pretty great.”
Later, Peggy would half-listen as Angie praised Steve for his ability to follow orders. Later still, Peggy and Steve would have a lovely conversation detailing revenge plans on the men of Angie’s past, some of whom weren’t as concerned for her comfort. For now she listened to the two most important people in her world chase release. Angie came first, collapsing forward onto Steve, who followed seconds later. Peggy kept her gaze on them, willing her eyes to stay open. Steve, who she’d thought about on so many lonely nights. Angie, who’d replaced the ghost from her fantasies, made her feel again in so much more than just the physical sense. The sight of them sated and trembling, holding each other with all the care they both deserved, sent Peggy tumbling over her own edge. The spasms that took over finally forced her eyes closed, but she remained hyperaware of their presence. When her mind and body calmed enough to do it, she vowed to never take that presence for granted, never forget how lucky she was.
There was heavy breathing and asking after each other, light kisses. Peggy found herself under the covers next to Steve, resting in the crook of his arm. Angie was sprawled out overtop of them, head in Peggy’s lap, legs in Steve’s. Stroking through Angie’s hair, Peggy kissed Steve at her leisure while he gave Angie an impromptu foot massage.
Humming her appreciation, Angie ran her right foot over Steve’s blanket-covered thigh. “I may have to hire you, Soldier. I get pretty sore after hoofin it to auditions or rehearsals or the Automat all day, you know?”
“Well, can’t have that, can we?” he said, pressing this thumb to the bottom of her foot until she giggled and kicked out at him. “You sure you don’t want to get in?” he asked, pulling the duvet back.
“Nah, exercise always keeps me warm for awhile,” she said with another of those filthy grins. “And you’re kinda reminding me of a furnace.”
“I always run a little hot, ever since the Rebirth formula.”
“Only a little hot? Not the way English tells it.” Apparently feeling the need to illustrate, Angie reached up, tweaking Peggy’s left nipple.
“Howard and his bloody mouth,” Peggy muttered, half-heartedly swatting at Angie. “Which I will bloody again if he doesn’t stop telling that story every time he pours his fourth drink.”
Angie stretched and yawned. “You could tell him he can join in on our private parties if he doesn’t open his trap at every SHIELD shindig. Might shut him up awhile, ‘til he realizes there’s no hope.” Angie paused a moment. “Think we should have codenames?”
Steve looked at Peggy. She raised an eyebrow, telling him the bewilderment was shared. “Say again, love?”
“Codenames. To avoid any more confusion over who should do what.”
“English and Soldier?” Steve said with a grin.
“Nicknames, not code.”
“Ah,” said Peggy. “Well, between those and our given names, I think we’ll get by.”
“Sure English, if ‘getting by’ is all you wanna do. Pardon me for trying to keep things interesting.”
Steve laughed. “I think I’ve had about as much interesting as I can take.”
“Really?” Angie asked, wearing another one of those looks as she raised her head to look at him. “Because I heard you bounce back pretty fast. Some formula.”
“You told her?”
Angie spoke before Peggy could. “Come on, Soldier. It’s not exactly a bad thing, and it’s not kissing and telling if you’re also kissing the person you’re telling.” She frowned. “You know what I mean.”
Steve rubbed at the muscles of her ankle, grinning. “Is there a reason you’re asking?”
Shrugging, Angie tweaked Peggy’s breast again, the right one this time. “View down here is pretty great, but I wanna see what Peg doesn’t have on under that skirt.”