Trinity began to feel shy the moment Hawkeye put her down to open the front door.

The old academy was quiet, but it was a cozy sort of quiet tonight. The rain was falling lightly outside now, a gentle patter on the copper roof.

“Are you hungry?” Hawkeye asked her.

He was offering her an out, a way to avoid going up those stairs and into his arms.

And she was grateful.

But she was ready. Her nerves weren’t going to stop her.

She shook her head.

“Shall we go upstairs?” he offered.

“Yes,” she told him.

He swept her off her feet again before she could register what was happening.

The result was that she giggled with surprise all the way up the stairs.

“Don’t laugh at me, Earth woman,” Hawkeye murmured into her hair.

But the curve of his cheek against her head told her he was smiling.

He carried her into her suite without hesitation, straight through the living room and into her own room, where he placed her down in front of her dresser.

She caught a glimpse of them reflected back and began to giggle all over again.

“Damn it, woman,” Hawkeye teased. “What is so funny?”

“Look,” she said, indicating the mirror.

They both turned to look.

The two people gazing back at them looked like a pair of chimney sweeps.

“Perhaps we’d better shower,” he suggested.

Suddenly Trinity felt unbelievably shy. She looked down to avoid allowing him to see her expression in the mirror.

“Shall we meet back here after we get cleaned up?” Hawkeye suggested kindly.

“Yes, okay,” she replied, and dashed off to the bathroom in her suite.

Once the shower was warm and the room was filled with delicious steam, Trinity stepped in.

The warm water soaked into her bones and she closed her eyes, enjoying it.

But she didn’t want to waste time. Hawkeye was waiting.

She soaped up and watched the dirty water swirl down the drain.

Her stress seemed to seep away with it, and all her worries about the future.

Hawkeye loved her - it was evident in all that he did. He would help her find a way to do her work.

If anonymity wasn’t in the cards anymore, maybe she could help the less fortunate in a more overt way. She might even be more effective if she had a platform.

She was squeaky clean and gathering her nerve to get out and find him when she heard a tap on the door.

“Hello?” she said.

“It’s me,” Hawkeye replied. “I finished and I wondered if you might need some help.”

“Sure,” she squeaked. “I was just getting out.”

She turned off the shower, took a deep breath, and opened the curtain.

Hawkeye held her in a gaze so smoldering it made the burning chapel seem like a deep freeze in comparison. He had one fluffy towel in his arms and another around his waist. Otherwise he was completely naked, his vast muscles sparkling with droplets of water.

“Oh,” Trinity said.

He moved toward her slowly, as if afraid he would frighten her off.

When he lifted the towel she raised her arms and allowed him to massage her heated skin.

“Oh, Trinity,” he said reverently.

She sighed.

He straightened up and took her hand, leading her back out to her bedroom.

Trinity was nearly trembling.

He seated her on the bed and knelt at her feet.

“Trinity Foster, I choose you as my mate,” he told her. “Will you accept me?”

“Yes,” she replied solemnly.

He pressed his head against her thigh

Trinity wove her hands through his hair.

Suddenly it didn’t matter that they were naked. Their words had already stripped them bare.

When he rose and crawled into bed beside her, Trinity stopped worrying about her inexperience. She’d gone all the way once before with a college boyfriend. It hadn’t seemed like such a big deal once it was done.

She had a feeling tonight was going to be different.

She lay back and turned on her side to face him.

Hawkeye slid a hand behind her head, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

He was so serious tonight, her light-hearted love. He gazed at her in wonder as if she were a treasure map - important, inscrutable.

She leaned forward and he rewarded her with a gentle kiss, and then another, less gentle.

Trinity felt his kiss down to her toes. She pressed her body to his, reveling in the warmth of his skin against hers, the way his heartbeat seemed to pulse through her own body.

He groaned and slid his hand slowly, so slowly, down to the small of her back.

Trinity caught his lower lip between her lips and sucked gently, loving the way he caught his breath as that big hard body squeezed her tighter, hands roaming over her hips, cock hard against her belly.

Hawkeye gripped her hips and dragged his lips from hers, his rough jaw tickling her cheek as he kissed his way to the shell of her ear.

“I never understood how sweet this could be,” he whispered. “It’s good that I didn’t. I would have been deranged trying to keep myself from your bed…”

Trinity shivered, his hot breath dancing on her nerve endings.

“Is it sweet for you too, my love?” he asked her.

“Yes,” she sighed.

“Close your eyes,” he told her.

She obeyed and felt his lips caress her neck, leaving a trail of pleasure behind, like a shooting star.

When he reached her breasts she opened her eyes again.

Hawkeye cupped one in his large hand, stroking the nipple with his thumb until she whimpered.

He lowered his head to nuzzle and nip, and finally suck first one nipple and then the other into his hot mouth.

Trinity lost herself to the exquisite sensations that seemed to travel straight to her sex. She moaned and sank her nails into his biceps. She needed more, needed him.

Hawkeye growled and abandoned her breasts for her belly, and then further still.

Trinity waited, her whole body surging with lust.

Hawkeye nudged her legs apart and showered the tender insides of her thighs with kisses.

Trinity gripped the sheets, desperate for more.

“So beautiful,” Hawkeye murmured, and nuzzled her sex.

Trinity felt as if she were floating with anticipation.

Hawkeye slid his tongue against her, slowly parting her folds, then lapping and swirling, driving her half crazy with his riotous exploration.

She cried out and he groaned against her, the vibrations nearly sending her over the edge.

He pressed a finger against her opening and she held her breath, lost in the sensation.

“Is this okay?” he asked her, his voice rough with lust.

“Yes,” she said. “Yes, please, please…”

He smiled up at her and then lowered his head to pleasure her again as he pressed his finger deeper, finding a place inside her that made her toes curl.

“Oh,” she whimpered, lifting her hips to him helplessly.

He hummed in agreement and swirled his tongue upward, searching.

Trinity moaned when he found her clitoris and lapped at it lightly, teasing and manipulating with his curious tongue.

“Oh,” she breathed.

But it was already too much, she felt herself flying, her whole body taut with tension.

Then she was obliterated with the pleasure.

There was nothing in the universe except the waves of ecstasy that threatened to consume her as Hawkeye used his hands and mouth to draw out her rapture until she could no longer bear it.