Chapter Text
Toni came walking into the kitchen from the elevator with slumped shoulders and exhausted expression.
It made James pause, brows furrowing in concern at the annoyance, exhaustion, and general unsettled-ness in her scent.
She also smelt like another Alpha—an unfamiliar Alpha.
“What’s the matter?”
She blinked and when her eyes landed on him, she lit up. Toni waved him off. “Just an old acquaintance that wanted to reconnect. Doesn’t seem to understand that I don’t want too.”
His frown deepened but happily passed his cup of coffee to her as she settled beside him. She hummed out a soft thank you in Italian before pressing a kiss to his cheek. He returned the gesture with a kiss to her forehead.
“Why not just ignore him if he is being such an irritation?” James questioned, an idea of what the other Alpha might possibly want with his omega—it made him grit his teeth.
Toni’s smiled tensely. “Insistent.” She sighed and lent against him, James wrapping an arm around her shoulder and rubbed her shoulder, a subtly attempt to smother the other Alpha’s scent on her with his own—she was his.
“You can block his number, threaten to file a police report or something, котенок?” He suggested although he was also willing to offer himself to persuade him into backing away.
She groaned and took another sip of the coffee. “His father runs a company that SI is planning to collab with. So it would be a bit awkward, don’t you think?”
“Mhm, what’s his name?”
Toni peered up at him—slight mirth appearing and it was obvious she knew there was a reason he was asking that wasn’t just for curiosities sake. “Tiberius Stone. I’ve known him since before I even presented, but I’ve never really liked him. Before my parents' died, he’d even tried to get Howard to agree to an arranged mating. Thank God Howard wasn’t that much of a bastard because he did the one thing I’ll probably only ever generally be thankful for when he declined.”
Good, James smiled and filed the name away for later.
Toni sat down beside with him a heavy sigh.
“He is still bothering you?” James asked, his Russian coming through thicker with his annoyance.
“Unfortunately.” She grimaced. “He offered me a gift after the meeting today—it was embarrassing.”
James froze. “You didn’t accept did you?”
“Tesla no.” She huffed, shooting him a look. “You thought I would?”
“No.” He scoffed.
Toni’s lips lifted. “He’s trying to court me the old fashioned way with useless trinkets. It’s disturbing, especially since I’ve already said no to his face several times already. I think he thought being in a room full of people would pressure me into saying yes.”
“Do you want me to deal with him?” He smiled.
Toni seemed to actually think about it, which made James ever-so gleeful. “…In what way?”
“Threaten, some maiming or I could, you know.” He made a neck slicing gesture. Toni giggled, hiding her face in his chest in an attempt to muffle the sound. James nuzzled his nose into her hair, feeling the way she sighed and snuggled closer.
“As much as I want to say yes, unfortunately killing is frowned upon, my gattino assassino.”
James grinned at the Italian—my murder kitten.
“But us Alphas used to have to fight back in the day, some even died for the right to court an Omega.” James offered—he’d been doing research of his own when he’d decided he’d wanted to try and court Toni.
He… he was still trying to figure out what to do actually.
(JARVIS was a big help. The AI was a Godsent.)
(He had no idea what to do, okay??? He wasn’t Bucky, and even if he was, times had changed and so had courting.)
“People don’t want to get all bloody nowadays for the chance to court an Omega. “ Toni responded, but she pouted. “I can admit there is a level of delight at the idea of an Alpha fighting like that for a chance. It’s a weird thought. Probably some leftover instinct.”
James huffed, I’d be more than willing to murder for the chance to court you.
He smirked. “Like the idea of an Alpha murdering another for you, львица?”
Toni snorted. “Lioness? But—” She flushed. “I have no idea why, okay? Don’t judge.”
James chuckled and Toni whacked his arm for it.
That night he may or may not have, with JARVIS’s help, paid this Tiberius Stone a visit.
Nothing more than a friendly threatening.
Then again, he and someone else have vastly different ideas of a friendly threatening.
The pathetic Alpha had wet himself in terror.
“Whatever you did, thank you.” She murmured into his chest.
James was quite a territorial Alpha, especially when it came to his things—Toni said it was likely because HYDRA had suppressed him so long that the idea of having his own things was the course of the quirk—but the last few days, it had gotten worse.
He hadn’t even realised until Natalie had pointed it out quietly one evening. The Beta and he had rekindled their friendship from when he had been a visitor in the Red Room.
He frowned.
“Alpha’s tend to get more territorial leading up their ruts.” She offered and continued painting his toenails. “It’ll be best to ask Toni for the stuff she’s prepared.” Natalie winked.
The Black Widow had long since clocked about his feelings for Toni and the fact he was more After then Before. She’d not said anything, and instead, they’d bonded over their shit beginnings.
“Did you get around to reading the material Toni sent you?” She continued. “Toni and I were talking the other day and she mentioned that you said ruts were more intense now.”
He sighed. “Yes, but now I understand what is happening to me I can act appropriately. I am mostly worried about—”
“—your instincts wanting you to find an Omega?” Natalie finished. He nodded. “And Toni’s the only Omega you’ve been close proximity with too.”
James groaned. “What do I do? Even I have noticed my possessiveness has turned up several notches. How hasn’t Toni?”
Natalie laughed softly. “You could always ask? I know for a fact Toni doesn’t help Alphas with their ruts because of some stuff during her MIT days but I’m sure she’d be more than willing to help you, if asked.”
He frowned again. “What do you mean?”
Natalie pursed her lips. “Toni used to get propositioning a lot both to help with ruts and her own heat. She was always scared they would use that to take advantage of her—she is a well sort after Omega because of who she is. The only sort of help she had was Rhodey and it was never about sex between them.”
He watched in fascination as Toni added her personal blankets to his bed to form a nest, watched as she laid and rolled herself around to add her scent to his own. It tingled his nose in a good way—the way their scents intermingled had the Alpha in him happy and content.
Toni sighed softly and settled before looking up at him. “Is this okay?” Her tone reflected the light nervousness on her face.
He smiled and climbed onto the bed to lay beside her. “Perfect.” He hesitated to move closer, unsure on her boundaries, but Toni seemed to understand because she closed the distance herself, curling up into his side. He took that as his cue and wrapped his arms around her.
He hadn’t officially started his rut yet, but Toni reckoned it would be within the next twelve hours.
This was going to be his first rut with another person—when he had been just the Asset, just an it, he hadn’t understood what was happening to him. He just thought he was malfunctioning because despite knowing he was an Alpha, he didn’t really know what an Alpha meant.
Or what Beta meant.
Or what Omega meant.
He had been wiped of a sense of self so thoroughly that he didn’t understand basic things—he knew them but didn’t understand why.
Even now there were somethings he still had trouble understanding.
But what he did know?
Toni smelt amazing.
(But when didn’t she?)
He could remember reading that an Alphas sense of smell was more enhanced during a rut, but at the moment he really couldn’t be bothered to recall the research behind it. Not when such an appealing and inviting scent was much more worth his attention.
Toni has stretched over him during their nap, her head resting above his heart as she clung to him like a koala. She nuzzled her nose against his chest in her sleep and—James honestly couldn’t take how cute it was.
Toni being cute was the understatement of the century. He sighed happily, quite content to anchor himself on Toni’s scent until she woke up. He could last.
He could deal with his inner Alpha demanding to take her—care for her—pleasure her—and embarrassingly: fill her up with pups.
He’d never had the thought before—not even in passing because he hadn’t gotten that far ahead of himself. He just wanted to be able to have Toni to himself. Pups would come after.
Just the idea of having Toni as his was all that had mattered.
(But he liked the idea of seeing her round with their pup—it was a bewitching image.)
Toni squirmed and James held his breath as her leg pressed against him. He couldn’t stop the groan as she seemed to rut against him as if she’d picked up on his pheromones in her sleep.
Shit.
He tremored with the desire to flip them and just take her.
Just take, take, take, and taketaketaketake—
But also give and pleasure, pleasurepleasurepleasure—
“James?” Toni’s sleepy voice broke his thoughts. He swallowed. “Everything okay?”
He flipped them, listening to the soft noise that escaped Toni, but he quickly drank down the sound as he kissed her, his hands busy with tugging at her clothes which, in his growing frustration, led to him ripping off her with a growl.
He found his face buried in her neck, inhaling the sweat and intoxication scent from her scent glands as he touched, brushed and explored the Omega below him. He eagerly listened to the soft sounds she made at his exploration, at his nips and sucking at her neck.
He moved downwards, leaving a trail of hickeys with distinct teeth marks until he reached the Arc-Reactor. He kissed at the skin, feeling the shuddery breaths Toni made, then licked at the skin, not hesitating to get close to the reactor—it left a soft tingle on his tongue similar to that of an electric shock.
(She tasted like heaven on his tongue.)
He liked it, and he would have happily continued the ministration, especially since Toni seemed to like it just as much—the soft moans and keens and ever-so-there tremble, but he couldn’t take it anymore.
He had to have her—had to knot her.
He made quick work of removing his shirt and stood to remove his lower halves before doing the same to Toni. She rolled onto her front with a little prompting from him and settled on her knees, chest to the mattress and back bowed.
He exhaled sharply at the display of submission.
James rumbled in response and received a purr from Toni.
The rumble became a groan as he pressed into her wet heat; God. He took a moment to truly enjoy the feeling of being inside Toni, he nipped and kissed along the side of her face as he unable to reach her neck because he was so much taller than her.
He got a chirp and she nuzzled in response. Her tongue darted out, catching the corner of his mouth and he pressed a searing kiss to her lips as he rolled his hips back. The power behind his thrust broke the kiss and Toni buried her face into the duvet with a wail.
His inner Alpha crooned happily to know he was satiating his Omega; at the way the Omega begged and pleaded for more; at the way Toni responded with bucks of her hips in an attempt to get him deeper; at the way she smelt so overjoyed to be beneath him.
“James. James. James. James!” She babbled, kneading the duvet under her hands as she sobbed.
He knew he wasn’t going to last long—he could already feel his knot forming—but he was going to get an orgasm from Toni before that.
(This was the first time he’d ever experience an orgasm, having never engaged in anything sexual before—he knew the likelihood Bucky had been with someone, but it had been seventy-years and he wasn’t Bucky.)
With his flesh arm, settled above Toni’s head, supporting his weight, he was free to slip his metal one beneath them, fingers first hesitatingly brushing against Toni’s clit.
(He had plenty of time to get to know what she liked.)
She squealed and he hissed as her walls squeezed down on him; he continued and Toni’s trembling got worse as she grew closer to her own climax.
James bit down on her shoulder heavily, a mark that would linger a lot longer than any of the others, as his knot began to catch and he felt the hitch of breath in response more than heard it from Toni. She spasmed hard beneath him as she comes with a wail and his knot caught, sealing him inside.
He groaned as he pulsed, spilling the first spurts of come into her, fuck. He rolls and humps his hips desperately as his body trembles from the orgasm. He gasps breathlessly, squeezing his eyes closed as he allows himself to submerge in a feeling he’d never felt before—and it was glorious.
He mutters soft praises in Russian against Toni’s skin, nuzzling his nose against her shoulder as she mewls, a little bit more out of it than himself. Being mindful of his knot, he gently manoeuvred them onto their sides.
He tucked her close to him, his metal arm, which was hooked under her, coming up to her Reactor where he softly pressed and rubbed around the edge. Toni shuddered and moaned quietly and snuggled closer with a soft sigh.
James buried his face into her hair, hips occasion jerking as he continued to spill into Toni.
He smiled and let out a sigh of contentment.