Drabble: An afternoon on the beach

[foster_j]

Jane walked out in her new little black bikini and she had to put up a hand when Bucky vaulted over the back of the sofa, the glint in his eye already well-known. “Babe, if you drag me back to bed again, we’ll never get to the beach and it was your idea,” she pleaded as his lips pressed kisses along the curve of her throat, those big, strong hands of his already curling on her hips. The first time she’d worn a bikini, they never made it out of the bedroom. Six times! She wasn’t complaining. Jane had been the one to push Bucky against the wall when he had come out in shorts and nothing else, after all.

But it had been his idea and Jane knew they had to break this cycle at some point. With a groan, he drew back, those blue eyes rebellious. “You’re right. I must have been out of my mind to think that was a good idea,” he replied begrudgingly, taking her hand and leading the way to the front door where he scooped up the towels Jane had set aside. His rules were no phones, no technology for this one afternoon.

They walked down to the beach from her - their - bungalow stairs onto the hot sandy beach, joining a small group of surfers that Jane had always let onto the private section. They’d brought coolers of beer and were having an impromptu party between surfing. Jane set their towels down a little distance from the group and tried to answer Bucky’s questions about how to surf.

Bucky discovered that he really enjoyed putting sunscreen on Jane and visa versa.

The ocean settled for a little while and most of the surfers began returning so Jane and Bucky went for a swim, enjoying the warm water and clear, blue sea. She had a good laugh when he’d seen a Manta Ray coming close and tried to block her from it. Gently, Jane pointed out that it was just curious, not a Sting Ray, and he had nothing to worry about. He did dive under to say hello up close and personally to a beautiful Green Sea Turtle, coming up with the biggest smile she’d ever seen on his face, his blue eyes shining with happiness.

Returning to the beach, one of the boys came over to talk to Jane, asking if they could invite another group of surfers over and she agreed, just asking that they point out that the bungalow was off limits. This group had been friends with Toby and they all called her ‘iki makuahine’ - Hawaiian for little mom. They had been fascinated with Bucky’s arm at first, but more than a few had recognized him from the papers and the fact that he’d rescued Jane had made him their instant hero.

Back at the towels, Bucky offered to run up to the bungalow to grab some sodas and water (because he was a downright pain in the ass about her being hydrated) and Jane settled down on her towel to dry off. A few minutes passed and a shadow fell over her. Jane blinked her eyes open, thinking it was Bucky, but it was a large younger surfer, dark hair and skin. She scrambled to her feet and took a step back when he, slurring his words, demanded that she join the party.

“No, thank you,” Jane told him firmly, glancing past him to try and get the attention of one of the regulars.

The young surfer laughed and made a grab for her, catching her by her bicep and pulling Jane closer as she struggled. “Take your goddamned hand off me!” she demanded fiercely.

He laughed harder, making some remark about liking her having a little fight in her and, at the same time, Jane could see several of the regulars had noticed what was going on and were heading towards them.

“Remove your hand before I remove it from you,” Jane threatened sharply.

He managed to drag her forward another foot, almost pulled against his body, when he made a choking sound and suddenly released his hold on her arm. As he fell to his knees, Bucky was behind him, with murder glinting in his gaze, his metal hand closing on the guy’s throat.

“If you even think about touching my wife again, they’ll never find your body,” he growled darkly, tossing the tall surfer several feet away like a broken doll. He turned to the other surfers who all took a step backward.

Jane put a hand on his arm and slipped under it as he drew her close. “He was drunk, babe.”

“I don’t care. Did he hurt you?” Bucky replied firmly, looking down at her, drawing back to turn her hand to see small bruises on her inner arm and his jaw twitched.

“No, no. I was pulling away and you know I bruise easy,” Jane soothed. Behind Bucky, the regulars were kicking the newcomer and chasing him off along with the rest of the new group. Marcus, the ‘leader’ of the regulars came over and apologized, assuring them both that they wouldn’t invite strangers in the future.

Bucky made a growling sound of agreement, lifting Jane up into his arms though and she waved at the group over his shoulder as he carried her up the stairs to the bungalow, muttering something about wanting to feed the sharks.

Jane smothered a giggle as he carried her straight into the shower to rinse off, but she wasn’t laughing when his lips closed over hers in a hard, hungry kiss. The water was just getting cooler and there were four new broken tiles when they finally reached for the towels to dry off.