A Romantic Evening (October 2000)

Over the last week, things had calmed down in the Tower. Logan seemed more relaxed and less agitated. He was still surly, but that was the way he was normally. Isabella had talked to Steve and Kate and they felt that Natalya was ready to start training with the team soon. It was Saturday night and Isabella and Tony were at a charity function they went to every year. Natalya and Logan were in their separate rooms and Sarah was with Serena. Kate had decided to plan a nice, romantic evening with Steve. The two of them had been together for several months now, but they had been taking things slowly. They went out on dates and kissed and enjoyed cuddling up together to watch movies, but it hadn't progressed past that point. Kate didn't want to push Steve, but she decided to see where things might take them that night. She had cooked a pot roast and served it abed some whipped potatoes with a gravy. There was red wine and she had lit some candles. She even had some 1940s music playing softly in the background. She had put on a dress that was somewhere between super casual and fancy and had taken time to do her hair. She had told Steve ahead of time about the dinner so he could look nice as well. 

She smiled over at him as he walked in. "You look handsome. Although to be fair I think you always look handsome."

One of the reasons it was nice to live in the tower was that everyone had their own set of rooms. They were actually 800 square foot apartments with an entry way, a kitchen with stacked laundry and a half bath, a living room slash dining room, a master suite with massive full bath and a guest bedroom slash office. They weren't huge and spacious but they were quite livable. Tonight Kate was cooking for Steve in her own space. Steve loved a good, home-cooked meal though that wasn't a secret.

Steve loved Kate but he wasn't quite ready for marriage. He had only been out of the ice for a couple of years and he wanted to experience life without feeling obligated to anyone. He was An Avenger as well which made such things as Marriage even more difficult and complicated. Tony and Isabella made it work but Steve was living in their Tower.

Steve wore a dark gray suit coat with a light blue tie, white shirt and black pants with dark brown shoes. He had gotten her a bouquet of Wildflowers for her table that morning. He heard the music as soon as he opened the door. It made him smile and he thought the candles were a nice touch. He came in with the flowers behind his back and when she came around the kitchen counter toward him to greet him suddenly the flowers were between them and he extended his neck to kiss her. He let their kiss linger a few moments before he lightly rubbed her cheek with his thumb. "Well, hello Miss Blackwell," He said formerly.

Kate returned Steve's kiss and she smiled when she saw the flowers. "They're beautiful. Thank you Steve," she said and found a vase to put them in. She put them on the table, but off to one side so they wouldn't obstruct their view of each other during dinner. Her entire apartment smelled liked pot roast and gravy, but she also had a homemade apple pie for dessert. She was going all out for Steve and she quite liked feeding him. Steve was more traditional in his tastes. She had convinced him to try Sushi one time and it had not been for him. Kate wanted him to be reminded of home tonight. 

"Here, give this a try and let me know what you think," she told him as she tore off a piece of the roast and fed it to him with her fingers.

Steve was surprised by her offering but when he tasted it he nearly sucked on her fingers to get the juices off. "Mmmm, delicious," He said with a smile. "I love cows," He said with a grin. "Shall I pour the wine?" He asked. When she nodded he did so then set the glasses back onto the table where they had been. He settled the wine bottle on the cloth towel near the flowers so they wouldn't have to get up once they sat down.

Kate's table was small like his was. It could sit 4 people if nothing else was on the table and there were 2 leaves in it to fit a tight 8 if need be. He shifted his place setting so he could hold her hand if he wanted to while they ate. "I think Natalya will fit in pretty nicely. I think you and her could support one another. Or maybe...I support the both of you since you both use ranged weapons," Steve amended. For some reason he was talking shop and hadn't realized it. Obviously Natalya was still on his mind to some degree.

Kate prepared both of their plates. She put the whipped potatoes down first and then put a piece of the pot roast on top. She added some pearl onions and carrots around the pot roast and then added a little gravy on top. She put the gravy boat on the table so Steve could add more if he wanted. She prepared her plate the same way and came and sat down. She noticed that Steve started talking about work and Natalya. "I think that Natalya is going to work out well too. It will be interesting to see how she does in training next week."

She then picked up her glass of wine and clinked it with Steve's. She took a sip and put her glass back down. "I was thinking about something earlier that I wanted to discuss with you. I was thinking that it might be nice to plan a trip in the spring for just the both of us. We could go to an island, or we could eve plan a camping trip in the Southwest. What do you think?"

"Camping sounds nice. Maybe hiking in Arizona," Steve said as looked at his place. His mouth was watering and he used his knife and fork to get someone of everything on it before he put it into his mouth. "Oh my, yum!" He exclaimed as he set to with a will. After he had about a third of everything on his plate he began to take more time. "There's the euro rail in Europe? Or we could just rent a car and travel all over there. France, Germany, Burgess Gardens, Austria then Italy and maybe Venice or Rome?" He said. "I bet its changed alot since I've been there," Steve said.

Kate couldn't help but smile as she thought about traveling through Europe with Steve. That would definitely be a much bigger trip, but if they talked to Isabella and Tony about it she didn't see why they couldn't make it work. Of course, being an Avenger meant that they were always on call, but Isabella and Tony took trips so why couldn't they?

"I love that idea," she told him with a smile. "The only time I've ever been to Europe has been when I was on missions. It would be nice to actually see the sights and enjoy it."

"We'd have to eat out alot," Steve said. "No delicious home cooked pot roast in Europe I bet though," Steve said as he poured them more wine. His plate was half gone now. He usually ate 2 plates of food but he had a metabolism that allowed him to eat whatever and how much food he wanted. "I've heard about the resorts in Burgess Gardens. Cable cars, skiing, Hot chocolate by the fire curled up together under a blanket," Steve said with a smile. "I bet even a hot tub. You know, We never use the hot tub here, why is that?" Steve asked. "I don't even think I've seen you in a bathing suit," Steve said.

Kate smiled a little as she thought about them in the hot tub together. “Well, we’ll have to fix that.” She had a red bikini that she thought Steve would like. They finished their meal and then Kate put the pie in the oven to warm up. Steve took her hand and they began to dance slowly together. She looked into Steve’s eyes as they danced slowly together. “I love you Steve.”

"I love you too," He whispered as he let her rest her cheek on his chest. He was considerably taller than she and he always had to lean down so she could kiss him without stepping on her tiptoes. The candles and the slow music and the dancing made the evening a very romantic one. Steve liked it when they did things like this. It made him feel loved and gave him opportunity to show his love for her as well. Kate's room had a gas fireplace. It was one of the few rooms that did. Steve topped off their wine glasses as he shifted them to the coffee table that sat in front of her large, plush couch that was situated in front of the fireplace. It looked and felt like a real one and she caught him checking out her bottom as she bent over to turn the brass handle to increase the flames. Steve wasn't shy anymore about getting caught looking at her and his eyebrows shifted a couple of times when she looked at him.

They both shifted so that she could curl up into his lap. Steve loved the feel of her like that and he loved the feel of her soft, golden hair against his face. His right hand was on her hip as she kicked her heels off. "Imagine doing this on a terrace in Venice. Is there a place on the planet more romantic than Venice?" Steve asked her.

Kate was completely and hopelessly in love with Steve. She knew she had found her soulmate in him and couldn’t imagine her life with anyone else. She trusted Steve and he trusted her. They were best friends as well as companions. In training they moved in sync and could sense what the other was going to do before they did it.

Curled up on the plush couch with him in front of the fireplace, Kate was perfectly content with the world. She sipped her wine and smiled up at Steve as she pictured them on a terrace in Venice. “I think that sounds amazing.” She leaned up and kissed him. The kiss was soft and gentle and as she pulled away they looked into each other’s eyes for a moment before they began to kiss again.

Kate's lips were very warm and their kissing had worn away her lipgloss fairly quickly. Steve was usually quite respectful with his hands usually until Kate took them and put them where she wanted them. Steve was extremely old fashioned in that men and women should not have sex before marriage but he had said on more than one occasion that 'It's not the 40s anymore and the times, they are a changing'. He had touched her over her bra under her shirt but that was as far as they had gone so far. They had touched each other all over, over clothing and she knew what he was about, size wise. Steve knew Kate had an athletic body. He loved to feel her washboard abs...like now His left hand was on her sternum and often shifted almost to her hip as they kissed. They had not seen one another naked and with her hands over his pants she felt that their kissing had already gotten him very hard. Steve's hand did drift up to nearly cup her right breast but then he lowered back down to where it had been.

Kate was more than ready to move their relationship forward, but she wouldn’t force Steve. She had a feeling though that he wanted to too, but was afraid of making the first move. They had kissed quite a bit and touched each other over their clothes quite a bit, but never gone further than that.

Kate moaned as she felt Steve’s hands on her body. She let her hands wander over his body as well. She felt Steve’s hand drift up towards her right breast, but she sensed him hesitate. She gently took hold of his hand and brought it up to cup her right breast.

Kate felt good, very good in his hand. He wanted to feel her flesh underneath but he wasn't certain if she wanted to go that far yet. He had never slept with a woman...never seen a woman naked even. He was nervous about all those 'unknowns' and yet he still wanted it. His body definitely wanted it...her. The logistics of everything though would have to start with her dress. He had seen people in theaters going under the shirts and blouses. He would have started with something like that but it wasn't an option tonight and he had no clue of how to broach the subject with her so he just continued to kiss her.

Kate knew she was going to have to take the lead on this and she decided that the first thing they needed to do was to move back into the bedroom. She slowly started to stand up while kissing him and he stood up as well. They didn't break the kiss as she backed them towards her bedroom. Once inside, her hands began to nimbly unbutton his shirt. She untucked it from his pants and then slid it off of him. She pulled back from the kiss and began to remove her dress. She pulled it up over her head and then let it drop to the floor beside her. Underneath, she was wearing black lace panties and a matching bra. Her body was lithe and well toned. She had a more athletic body that wasn't as curvy as Natalya or Isabella, but she could still turn heads.

Steve and Kate had made out on her bed several times. This was nothing new but when her hands moved to undo his shirt he knew something was different. She had a look in her eyes and she was very warm. Warm and determined he thought. His nervousness increased along with his desire for her. He didn't want to stop Kate but he also didn't really know what to expect or what to really do. Before he knew it her dress was off and on the floor. In her black lace she looked...very athletic and very sexy. He smiled as he looked at her body and all of his trepidation about making love to her had dissipated.

"So...this is happening then? I mean...do you want to make love Kate?" Steve asked softly.

Kate smiled at Steve and she walked over to him. She placed a finger on his lips and smiled up at him. "Shhhh."

Sometime later, she lay in his arms on her bed. Her sheets were half on and half off the bed and partially tangled around them. The rest of their clothes were strewn about the room, and Kate's bra was hanging off the lampshade on her bedside table. They were both glistening with a thin sheen of sweat, but their breathing had since returned to normal. Kate shifted and gently kissed Steve's chest a few times.

Steve could not stop smiling. Making love to Kate felt wonderful. Better than wonderful. See her body, feeling her...being inside of her...just wonderful. Or maybe incredible. He could not decide on the adjective to describe it. He didn't last very long and he was concerned about that but Kate had assured him that it was normal. He wasn't certain if he liked being on top more than her being on top except for he could do more with his hands. She seemed to like him touching her bare breasts like he did. And she coached him on putting her nipples into his mouth. They felt...nice in his mouth. Everything about Kate felt nice. His persistent grin faded.

"That felt...can we do it again?" Steve asked.