Author's Note: Ok folks we're down to the last chapter for this story, but this pair will be back I have plans in the works for them. However in the meantime I am currently working on a continuation for Ozhawk's Soulmate Short for Clint and Skye which I hope to start posting as soon as I get a few more chapters under my belt. As well as a couple of other ideas floating around in my head with my crack headed muses. Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty Three: Saving Grace

Clint had originally only intended to relax, kicked back on the couch with his bare feet resting atop the coffee table, he wasn't sure when he'd fallen asleep or how long he'd been asleep let alone what the hell had caused him to stir.

As a weight settled on his lap and fingers began a light caress through his short sandy hair Clint shifted slightly to settle the weight more comfortably on his lap, as his eyes drifted open slowly, he caught the faint sound of music echoing through the apartment.

Blinking the sleepy haze from his eyes Clint couldn't stop the small smile that curved his lips when he found himself looking into rich chocolate eyes, it wasn't the first time he'd come awake to Shay settled in his lap stroking his hair and he highly doubted it'd be the last.

The content smile gracing her face was a welcome sight, when she'd first looked at him in the medical store room he hadn't missed the obvious evidence that she'd been crying, her lashes had glistened with moisture and her cheeks had been just the slightest bit damp.

When he'd left her alone with Tyler, Clint had spent half his time trying to figure out what had caused her tears, the other half of his time had been spent firmly locking down his libido, for the life of him though he couldn't think of what could have resulted in her crying.

His first thought had been to wonder if one of the girls had said something, but then he recalled the way she'd darted off into the store room after seeing him and came to the obvious conclusion her tears had been for him, when he thought back on the message he'd asked JARVIS to relay he suddenly realised she'd probably thought that something had happened to him.

"You scared me before. In the future, when you get JARVIS to ask me to meet you down in the medical wing, think twice about how you word it," her tone was teasing, but in the depths of her eyes he could still see the barest trace of sadness lingering.

Though as her hands fell from his hair to stroke over his shoulders and down the front of the doctor's coat he'd forgotten to take off, Clint saw something else flash through the depths of her eyes moments before her tongue darted out to lick her lower lip before she murmured "Do me a favour and keep the coat though, you look absolutely delectable as a doctor."

Clint couldn't stop the low chuckle that rolled from his chest as his hands moved to settle on her bare thighs beneath the skirt of her dress, leaning forward to brush his lips against her ear he whispered "You got a thing for doctors, darlin'? Is this something I need to be jealous about?"

He felt the shiver that coursed through her body that had her thighs press in tighter against his as her hands slid beneath the coat to push it from his shoulders as her head turned to brush her lips across his followed by a breathy whisper "I've got a thing for you as a doctor, actually I seem to have a thing for you in general in case you hadn't noticed."

"Really? I hadn't noticed in the slightest darlin'," Clint teased as he reluctantly moved his hands from her soft, warm skin to shrug one arm free from the coat before yanking it off and flinging it to land on the armchair.

Skimming his hands along from her knees, up her thighs and around to cup her ass beneath her skirt, he brushed his nose against hers as he murmured "I didn't mean to scare you, let me make it up to you?"

When Shay pulled her head back from his and cocked it to one side Clint couldn't help but shiver, it was very reminiscent of Natasha assessing her marks, which was probably a clear sign that his soulmate was spending far too much time with his surrogate sister/best friend.

"I want to feel you….no I need to feel you, all of you, against me, inside me with nothing between us," Shay's wanton tone caught him off guard, it wasn't a tone he'd heard her use before, not that he was going to complain about that mind you.

"You're sure about that? I mean I'm clean, SHIELD was always very thorough in its monthly screenings, but there are other risks," he really felt like an idiot pointing that out, of course she knew the risks, to hide his embarrassment Clint dropped his head forward to rest atop her breasts.

He felt the brush of her lips in his hair as one of her hands stroked the nape of his neck lightly, occasionally scratching her short nails through the back of his hair before her voice sounded quietly "I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't sure, Clint."

Dropping his feet off the coffee table, Clint used a firm, yet gentle grip on her ass to pull her flush against him; he nuzzled into the cleavage bared by the neckline of her dress before placing a light nip to the curve of one breast.

Sliding to the edge of the couch Clint pushed himself to his feet, he felt Shay's free hand grasp his bicep to steady her balance, lifting his head from her cleavage he turned his gaze over her shoulder, the last thing he wanted to do was crash her into something.

The brush of her lips against his ear was the only warning Clint got before Shay's delicious lips set to work at his throat, at first it was teasing kisses that had him bumping his shin into the corner of the coffee table, but when she switched to sucking and nipping at his throat he growled quietly and quickened his pace into the bedroom.

With some rather awkward manoeuvring Clint had them both positioned in the middle of the bed, which was precisely the moment Shay chose to wriggle free of his grasp. With a low groan he watched as she slipped off the bed and sauntered to the closet.

His gaze rested momentarily on the bag she collected as she made her way into the bathroom, though when she stopped at the door to rake her eyes along the length of his body he cocked one brow upwards in silent question. He heard the low drum of her fingers tapping on the doorjamb before she called out, while pushing the door closed, "Lose the shirt and jeans and make yourself comfortable."

As the door shut with a quiet click Clint blinked in confusion at the rapid change in direction that had just occurred, grasping the hem of his t-shirt he pulled it over his head tossing it haphazardly to the floor.

He was trying to listen to what was going on in the bathroom as his hands worked to unfasten his belt buckle, all he could hear though was the sound of running water as he hastily finished stripping down to his boxers.

Flopping back into the pillows Clint rolled to his side, propping his head on his hand as his gaze locked on the closed door, while shifting his legs he suddenly realised the bedding had at some point been folded back, he assumed Shay had done that either earlier in the day or when she first came back into the apartment.

The water shutting off in the bathroom followed by the creak of the door drew Clint's attention back to the door; he was suddenly grateful for the loose knit cotton of his boxers as his cock twitched at the sight of Shay wrapped within his bathrobe.

Granted there was nothing inherently sexy about the bathrobe itself, more the delicate figure it was hugging, he couldn't tear his eyes from Shay as she crossed the room. He was pretty sure he was smirking by the time she knelt beside him, reaching one hand out to lightly grasp the belt holding the robe closed his eyes met hers momentarily before he tugged the belt firmly to unfasten it.

As the robe parted Clint sucked in a sharp breath his hungry gaze roaming over the sheer black lace and mesh babydoll lingerie that had been concealed beneath his robe, pushing himself up onto his knees as Shay shrugged the robe from her shoulders he reached out wanting to touch, no needing to touch but halted his hands a scant inch from her shoulders before pitifully groaning "Can I?"

"Not yet," was the sultry reply as Shay reached out to brush her thumb over his lips as she continued "lay down on your stomach for me?"

Reluctantly acquiescing he turned and flopped ungracefully face first into the pillows, hooking his arms around one of the pillows he turned his head to the side, he was in the process of trying to work out what she was doing when he felt the mattress dip slightly moments before her weight semi-settled on his ass.

As her soft hands began soothing strokes along his back to his shoulders where she'd knead lightly into his muscles, Clint couldn't prevent the low groan that rumbled free as his hips unwillingly ground into the mattress when her soft breath blew across the back of his neck.

The restriction on him not being allowed to touch her combined with her ministrations to his back was causing a delicious slow burn to grow within his body, slowly driving him mad, especially when she ran her tongue the length of his spine causing him to shudder and whimper "I want to see you…..please?"

Clint most definitely was not beyond begging right now if it got him at least part of what he wanted, he felt her movements still before her fingers drummed lightly on his shoulder as she wriggled her hips to grind herself down against his ass.

Her soft hands were the first thing to vanish followed by her weight lifting off his ass that was followed with a gently murmured "Roll over."

That was one order he definitely had no trouble following immediately, as he settled on his back he suddenly realised Shay was bracing her weight on her knees by his hips and her hands on either side of his head, flicking his gaze from her face as far down as he could he grinned cheekily moving his hands between them to drag his fingers along her collar bones to her sternum and down to cup her breasts.

He was rewarded by a quiet keen from Shay's throat as she shuddered and struggled to keep her weight balanced, when she finally resettled her weight against him she was sitting astride him, her lace covered core pressed firmly against his growing erection, her upper body tilted forward into his hands.

Gently kneading her breasts Clint could tell the rasp of the lace on her breasts was getting to Shay when she bit at her lower lip firmly. He sat up suddenly, his hands pushing her upright along with him, as he leant in to capture her lower lip gently sucking on it.

Skimming his hands over her breasts and down along her ribs, Clint slid his hands beneath the hem of the babydoll, his fingers ghosting along the smooth skin of her stomach, working his hands upwards the sheer material bunched atop his hands till he pulled it over Shay's head.

"So beautiful, darlin'," he murmured softly, meeting her eyes, "and don't think I don't appreciate that you went to the effort to put that on for me."

"Somehow, I suspected I wouldn't get to wear it for all that long anyway," she returned softly, skimming her hands over his shoulders and down his biceps.

He chuckled quietly, busying himself with his hands on her breasts, teasing gently in ever-decreasing circles, never quite touching her nipples.

"You know me, I can't resist temptation."

That made Shay let out a laugh, and as she did so he bent his head and caught one pouting nipple between his lips, biting gently before soothing the small pain with a swirl of his tongue.

Working his mouth on one nipple Clint made absolute certain the other got just as much attention from his calloused fingers, he was rewarded with a shuddering gasp as Shay rocked her hips forward and down to grind against him, her short nails biting into his biceps causing his hips to jerk up in response.

Releasing her nipple with a wet pop, Clint moved suddenly to ease Shay down onto the bed, bracing his hands on the mattress to keep his upper body from touching her, their only points of contact being where her hands rested curled around his biceps, her legs now curled around his and their groins.

Thrusting forward with his shoulders as well as with his pelvis drew a startled mewl from Shay's throat at the different action and pressure it afforded, dropping his head Clint captured her mouth in a lazy languid kiss.

The rake of her nails along his biceps and across his collar bones threw Clint's rhythm out, forcing him to break the kiss with a soft curse, though speech went right out the window as Shay's hands begin stroking from his collar bones downwards, stopping to trace and map every scar until they eventually came to rest flat against his abs.

Firm pressure from both her hands pressed up against his abs as her legs tightened against his, Clint took it as a hint and rolled onto his back pulling Shay along with him, she wriggled backwards, tauntingly dragging herself along his aching erection till her ass settled to a stop resting against his shins.

Before he could figure out what she was up to Clint sucked in a sharp breath as the elastic of his boxers stung his skin, the pain was followed by feather light brushes from her lips as her dark hair cascaded over her shoulder in a waterfall to fan over his stomach.

When Shays warm breath blew gently through the partial opening of the fly of his boxers Clint's hips jerked upwards suddenly as he groaned, the soft but quick brush of gentle hands over his ass cheeks before his ass came back into contact with the bed, the sudden sensation of her silky hair brushing over the engorged head of his cock drew a guttural groan from his throat as he realised the little minx had managed to hastily draw his boxers midway down his thighs.

Propping himself up on his elbows Clint watched dazedly as Shay's head moved, granted he couldn't see past her hair but he could feel her mouth and tongue alternating between tracing and nipping at their mark below his hip.

He was fighting back the primal urge to simply pull her to him, flip them over and fuck her into the mattress when she slid off his legs, her soft hands tugging his boxers off to be discarded on to the floor without another thought.

Watching Shay crawl languidly up the bed towards him Clint licked his suddenly dry lips, her lithe movements were oddly similar to that of a predatory cat stalking its' prey, as she brushed past his shoulder with a slight nudge he blinked, turning his head to stare at her ass as she tugged at and rearranged the numerous pillows he kept on the bed.

Rolling to his side before pushing onto his knees beside her, Clint reached one hand out to lightly stroke the sheer lace covering her gorgeous ass, his hand didn't remain focused on her ass for long however as each pass he made he delved lower until eventually he moved aside the thin scrap of fabric so he could stroke through her folds.

As her movements halted and Shay glanced back over her shoulder at him, Clint shifted, straddling one of her legs and leaning forward so his aching cock pressed firmly against one of her ass cheeks as his mouth descended to her shoulder, at the same moment he bit firmly against her shoulder he thrust two fingers into her slick heated core to brush unerringly against her g-spot.

The unabashed moan that drifted from Shay as she bucked her ass back into his cock and hand drew a guttural growl from Clint. They'd wound each other up to the point of breaking, he knew he wasn't far off coming by the familiar tingle coiling at the base of his spine and she was so wet for him that the thin scrap of lace was drenched.

Pulling his fingers from her slick entrance Clint grasped the tiny, sexy underwear that was driving him insane and dragged it swiftly over the curve of her ass and down as far as her knees, which is when she dug her toes into the bed and pushed her ass into the air so he could peel the garment down to her ankles where she promptly kicked free of it.

When she moved into the nest of pillows she'd made Clint hastily followed and was pushed into a seated position, Shay moving to straddle his lap, as her hands settled on his shoulders he stroked his down along her back before settling to cup her ass and guide her down onto his straining cock.

The difference in position made Shay a little tighter and Clint had to grit his teeth as she performed some rather amazing gyrations of her hips to sink fully down on his thick length, when he bottomed out and she wrapped her lean legs around his back he bent his knees so his thighs were just behind her back and planted his feet against the mattress.

Bringing his hands up to cup her cheeks Clint leant in to capture her lips in a tender kiss, when he eased back from the kiss as Shay scratched lightly at the back of his neck he murmured huskily "God, I love you."

He felt Shay's gentle rocking into him stop and Clint momentarily forced his eyes shut mentally berating himself for using the L word, it was too soon for shit like that to be coming out…wasn't it? He recalled Nat telling him once never to say it first, it was better to wait till it was said to you first, but the time had felt right for him to say it….or apparently he at least thought it had.

Feather light kisses ghosted his closed eyelids as one hand stroked soothingly through his hair, her other hand brushing his cheek before curling about his neck. Forcing himself to open his eyes he was met with a breathtaking smile he couldn't recall ever seeing grace her face before.

"It's about time, I was wondering how long it'd take for you to say it," her tone was light and teasing as were the kisses she was placing randomly over his face, till their lips met and she used just a little more pressure in the kiss as she wriggled in his lap.

It was pure torture what she was doing to him, he was positively sure of it, he felt like his insides were on fire, not to mention he'd just laid his heart bare to her with his declaration of love and she hadn't even returned it, was it possible that he was only a fuck toy to her?

Something about his insecurity must have been showing on his face because Clint suddenly found Shay's brow furrowing and both her hands cupping his cheeks as she slowly regained the rhythm they'd had prior to his emotional verbal diarrhoea, as her mouth brushed his briefly her voice ghosted over his lips as she whispered "I love you too Clint."

Feeling the coil of tension low in his gut Clint settled his hands to Shay's hips rolling her hips forward into his groin as she rocked and he bucked slightly beneath her, the rapid increase of her breathing telling him just how close she was, her soft moans floated free of her throat as she leant back against his thighs, her head resting atop his knees as her long silky hair cascaded down his legs.

The change in her position altered the angle and motion of his throbbing cock gliding within her, it also provided him with a little more leeway to move as he bucked and rolled his hips in rhythm with hers, the breathy moan of his name escaping her lips as her inner muscles clenched down hard on his cock was like music to his ears.

Several more rocks and pivots of Shay's hips had Clint shattering, his cock sliding deep as it emptied spurt after spurt of his hot come deep within her welcoming heat, her inner muscles mercilessly milking him of every last drop.

Collapsing back into the pillows even as the aftershocks of their orgasms still rippled through their bodies, Clint couldn't contain the contented rumble that rolled through his chest, Shay's soft laughter floating down to him moments before her limp body collapsed onto his chest.

His heart did that same damn flutter in his chest that it had done the first night they met in the hospital, Clint still had no idea what the fuck it was, but he did feel damn lucky that Shay could love someone as screwed up as he was, even though she claimed she was just as screwed up as he was he couldn't see it, no refused to see it, she was his angel, the light to his darkness, she was his saving grace.