He hadn't spoken in what seemed like an hour. Although from his facial expressions he did seem to be having a pretty animated conversation in his head. Glancing up from the stack of papers in her lap, Pepper watched him shift restlessly in his seat then reach for his gold Blackberry the instant it illuminated the glass coffee table. One syllable answers were concluded with a beep and a scowl seconds later.
Occasionally, over the course of the evening, she had noticed Obadiah tilt his head to rest against the back of the couch. His eyes would slip shut and he would breathe in deep, steady breaths, first inhaling and holding the breath for a brief moment before letting it escape. Control, Pepper thought. An attempt to calm his mind and quell his anxiety. She too was still struggling to come to terms with the lack of information around Tony's abduction weeks earlier. Her coping mechanism, as always, was to immerse herself in work and that's why she had found herself working late, even by her own diligent standards, at Tony's place.
While Pepper had been sifting through some event invitations and grant requests in the kitchen earlier in the evening, she had been startled by the sound of footsteps rising from the workshop staircase. She spun around to her left. For a fleeting moment she allowed herself to believe...
"Ah, good evening, Pepper."
How silly, she thought. Obadiah stepped into the lounge, his impeccable posture and imposing frame at once filling the room. He paused and smiled at her before crossing the room to kiss her on both cheeks, his hands gripping her bare shoulders tighter than necessary.
"I couldn't resist taking a look down there," he said quietly, reaching up to first loosen the windsor knot then the top button of his pink shirt. "Foolish really," he added. "I don't know what I expected to find."
He dragged a nearby kitchen stool across the slate floor with his foot and Pepper shuddered inwardly at the jarring squeak. She had never encountered Obadiah in Tony's home without her boss being there before. In fact, he did not pay visits to Tony's home too frequently when he was there. Obadiah much preferred to mix business with pleasure by meeting in expensive restaurants or exclusive gentleman's clubs. Here he was though, at 7pm on a Wednesday evening shifting up to join her at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Obadiah played a silent melody on the granite work surface with his right hand, his eyes glancing side wards to the documents across for him.
Pepper put down the papers and placed both hands on the kitchen counter, opening her mouth to speak then thinking better of it. She looked at him sympathetically, not sure what to say to a man whose surrogate son was missing somewhere on the other side of the world with no clues as to his whereabouts. Pepper understood what he was going through. She herself had no real reason to be here tonight either but, nevertheless, had found herself arriving without ever having consciously acknowledged her destination. Her working relationship with Tony was the most constant and precious and wonderfully complex thing she had in her life.
"Let me get you a drink, Obadiah."
He nudged his brown leather shoes out of the way as he stood, a little more gingerly this time, to refill his glass. That made five by Pepper's calculations. She looked on as he dropped a large handful of ice into the crystal glass, quickly followed by a liberal amount of Islay Malt. Obadiah's gaze met her own as he dropped back down at the far end of the couch. The room was dimply lit, with only the lamp Pepper was using to illuminate her work casting any light. His deep-set eyes continued to linger on her and she struggled to read his shadowed expression.
Obadiah nodded, almost imperceptibly, as if answering a silent question. "To absent friends," he gestured, his voice a little rough from the cigars and whisky he had consumed over the last couple hours. She noticed him casually appreciate the length of her crossed legs as he drank over the liquor, savouring the harshness of burn with a faint growl.
Pepper didn't respond to his words or gaze but continued to watch him paw at the empty glass that lay on the arm of the couch. For someone whose image was so thoroughly considered and every move so seemingly calculated, to find Obadiah Stane sitting so forlornly in Tony Stark's living room in his rumpled shirt and designer socks was somewhat hard to compute. It wasn't that she felt ill at ease in his company, she had always found him to be perfectly personable. However, in their day to day exchanges at the company Obadiah was also perpetually on the move, issuing instructions as he strode purposefully from one meeting to the next, always with an objective to be met by the time the market closed.
"Pepper?" His voice and body language gave her the impression he had been preparing to speak for some time.
"Yes, Obadiah," she said brightly. Even away from the office she found it hard to drop her calm, efficient persona. She expected to be asked to organise transportation, perhaps reserve a table at Spago or even organise an alternative form of evening entertainment, as she had been required to do on a few rare occasions when Obadiah had not been dating someone.
"You know," he began, moving to close the distance between them, then leaning in towards her. Before she could move them out of the way he had knocked her neatly stacked folders to the ground in his haste. She bent over to collect them as he continued. "I think that Tony would like you to know how much he appreciated all of the things you did for him, Pepper."
Her body immediately tightened in reaction to his words and she blinked at the rug, his words taking a moment to filter through and register in her mind. To her right, Pepper heard ice and crystal collide. She tried to will a sound from her mouth although she was unsure of exactly what to say. A flush had begun to rise on her chest and Pepper placed a hand there, feeling both the heat and the rapid thump of her heart. He's drunk; he doesn't know what he's saying. When she rose, Obadiah sat watching her intently, his right elbow resting on his knee and a clenched fist beneath his chin.
Pepper cleared her throat and began to shuffle and stack the documents once more. "Uh, that's…thank you." She sat next to him for a few moments more, willing herself to project an outward appearance of control. Tony wasn't… There was no evidence to suggest… She quickly realised that her composure was about to fracture. Her control over the thoughts and feelings now reverberating in her head was slipping fast and Pepper was determined that she would not cry in front of Obadiah or anyone else.
She rose and straightened her grey pencil skirt, forcing a thin smile. "Excuse me for a moment," she stated, her graceful walk quickening into a skip as she moved swiftly over the marble floor in her heels.
Pepper hurried down the narrow corridor and closed the bathroom door behind her, ensuring twice that she had secured the lock. She bit her lip and reluctantly looked up to meet her own gaze in the mirror. Breath, she told herself. Breath. The bluntness of his words had taken her entirely by surprise and straight away she felt like she was drowning in all of the emotions she had kept so successfully kept at bay. Dabbing carefully at her eyes with a Kleenex, Pepper wiped away tears that had not yet appeared.
A change in the shadowy light announced his presence on the other side of the frosted glass door seconds before she heard an uncharacteristic gentle knock. "Pepper, may I...?" Obadiah's hand hesitated on the handle. "I'm sorry, I… I'm very sorry if I upset you. May I come in?" His voice was softer now and lacking the edge of moments before.
She glanced at herself in mirror for a final time, correcting a few strawberry blonde strands that had fallen loose then moved to open the door. Obadiah's tie was gone now, his head hung a little low in weariness but he still held on protectively to his glass. Before Pepper could step out into the darkened hallway and brush off the incident, Obadiah instead stepped into the bathroom, causing Pepper to quickly retreat backwards towards the sink.
He took a quick sip before putting his drink down and bracing his hands on his hips. She wasn't quite sure what he was about to say but she recognised this body language in Obadiah a knew that it signalled conviction.
"I admire you, Pepper," he began slowly. "I always have." He shrugged his broad shoulders and shook his head. "The last thing I would want to do would be to…"
Pepper cut him off, eager to end the awkwardness of the situation. "It's fine," she stated, punctuating her words with a self-conscious laugh. "I'm fine." Though upon hearing her words out loud she barely convinced herself. Of all of the odd situations she had found herself in since commencing her position at Stark Industries, being in such close proximity to an apologetic Obadiah Stane in Tony's bathroom was quickly climbing the charts.
He stroked his beard thoughtfully, making no movement towards the door, and then slowly moved his hand from his cheek and down to his chin where he tugged gently at the silver hairs there. Calculating his next move she assumed.
"I'm fine," she lied again. "Really, Obadiah."
Without a word, he stepped forward and pulled her into his solid frame, cradling her head against his collarbone. Obadiah's arms settled around her waist and she closed her eyes, allowing herself to be held by him. Engulfed and supported by both his frame and his appreciation of the pain she was experiencing, they stayed that way until Pepper finally pulled back.
"Thank you," she whispered, pleased to have been reminded of the comfort inherent in simple human contact. To her surprise, a tear fell from her eye and rolled down her cheek before she could halt its progress.
Obadiah pursed his lips and touched his hand to her cheek, carefully cupping her jaw with his palm. Pepper's breathing hitched as his thumb grazed her freckled skin. She watched his eyes narrow and the blue once again disappear into deep-set intensity. They stood looking at each other in the quiet of the bathroom, only the faint hum of a press helicopter above them filling the tension between them. Pepper was increasingly aware of the smoky aroma in the room mixed with a hint of his crisp cologne. Within seconds his fingers seemed to have seared his scent to her skin.
She couldn't quite access the feelings she was experiencing. Sure, she and Obadiah had engaged in a little good-natured repartee from time to time, flirting as far as some of executive personal secretaries were concerned, but then many of them also speculated that Pepper Potts had gained her role as assistant to Tony by way of a less than traditional interview. She made it a point to disregard all company gossip as a rule.
"Obadiah."
A hint of a smile lingered at the corner of his mouth she suspected. She couldn't be sure. He certainly appeared to appreciate the way the blush surfaced beneath his touch. She bit her lip, embarrassed to have been betrayed by her body.
Obadiah was an intensely charming man, that couldn't be denied, and she had grown accustomed to his tactile approach. It really was quite an effective weapon when coupled with his physical stature and he used it to his full advantage. Over the years Pepper had witnessed the way in which Obadiah had used physical contact to disarm, reassure, condescend, dominate, intimidate and, when required, flirt. She was pretty sure she had witnessed each of these being employed in his exchanges with Tony. Pepper couldn't be certain of what was happening in this moment but something enigmatic within his eyes both set her on edge and excited her to her very core.
While Pepper struggled with what to do or say next, Obadiah made the decision for both of them and began to gently back her up towards the wall between the door and the mirror. As her back connected with the wall, he brought his lips to hers and guided a hand into her hair. The analytical part of her brain told her that she had to make a quick fire decision – either rebuff his advances now and cause a scene or, alternatively, allow him to kiss her before quickly making an excuse and leaving. She opted for the latter. But when Obadiah's other arm made it's way down to the small of her back and he bit gently at the side of her mouth, she found that she didn't want to, wasn't able to stop.
Encouraged by the nails now digging into his waist, he pressed his entire weight against her, effectively pinning her to the wall. She was now on the tip of her toes, even in four inch heels, eagerly meeting each touch and grind and moan with one of her own. Passivity had never been in Pepper's make-up.
Obadiah moaned deep in his throat when she opened his mouth to him and even louder when she teasingly hooked a leg around his thigh. He tasted exactly as she had expected, both smoky and sweet at the same, the taste of whisky on her tongue not at all unpleasant for once. She dictated the intensity of the kiss, her hands on his cheeks allowing her to move forward and shift angles. The knee that soon pressed its way between her thighs, forcing her legs apart, informed her that that wasn't how this was going to go.
Right now all Pepper needed was to be possessed by someone, to be completely lost to want and need and irrational lust. It was perfect. Obadiah slid his hand from the small of her back to the curve of her ass, pressing his hardness against her. Taking the hint, Pepper began to unbutton his shirt revealing his gold chain and tanned chest. A product of the many exotic vacations he saw fit to reward himself with she thought.
He seized her skirt with both hands, slid it up to her waist and began to stroke her. Immediately he began to drive her crazy with deliberate shifts in pressure and tempo and there was no way she could keep quiet. Her eyes had slipped closed to savour the sensation but when she opened them he was watching her, clearly enjoying her vulnerability and the effect he was having on her body.
She had no interest in being toyed with. "Now, Obadiah," she said, levelling him with a stare. "Please."
Within seconds he had freed himself and lifted Pepper onto the edge of the bathroom sink. She called out, the sound echoing, when he entered her unexpectedly in one thrust.
"Fuck me," she heard herself murmur into his ear, her hands holding his neck to her shoulder. In a flash, his grip tightened painfully around her waist and he increased the speed of his strokes. Obadiah lavished kisses upon her neck and chest, anywhere he could reach, biting her a little now and then and surprising her. Any protests were stifled by a kiss, his strokes now becoming desperate and demanding as his body sought rapid release for both of them.
"Pepper, god…" She could feel his breath on her ear.
Gripping his shoulders with all of her force, she crossed her legs at the small of his back and willed him to take her towards the edge. Looking over her shoulder and around the bathroom, Pepper caught fleeting glimpses of some cologne, a rare Japanese plant she'd given him… She flinched in surprise as Obadiah switched angles, that line of thought at once slipping from her mind.
His teeth nipped at her ear, a little too hard, and his beard brushed against her cheekbone with each surge forward. She was aware that he was speaking but over the sound on her own gasps she could hardly make them out.
"Pepper, I'm…Jesus, I'm not…" His breaths were now coming in shallow gasps and his eyes were no longer open to revel in Pepper's own shifting facial expressions. She enjoyed that fact for a brief moment and touched a hand to his face. Seconds later he worked his fingers between them and took her roughly over the edge. He came an instant later when she had screamed his name.
Neither spoke as they walked down the empty hallway. Instead, Pepper wrapped her arm around him, grounding herself and willing him to lead her to the comfort of the nearest guestroom. Pushing open the door with one hand and holding her securely with the other, Obadiah led her into the large expanse of the ocean view guestroom, seizing the remote to close the blinds and conjure up some dim light from the fireplace.
"Here, let me," he said, easing her long fingers away from her blouse and helping her to finish undressing. Looking down at his large hands negotiating with the intricacies of buttons and straps somehow felt more intimate than the sex they had just had. When he deliberately brushed his fingers over her stomach as he unfastened her skirt, she couldn't help but tremble a little. It wasn't lost on Obadiah, nothing ever was she thought, and he grinned in quiet satisfaction.
Whatever fallout there was going to be from this brief shift in their relationship, well, that could wait until tomorrow Pepper decided. As she lay back on the bed, she noticed that Obadiah had made no move to finish undressing himself but instead placed her clothes on a chair and returned to help ease the sheet up and over her body. He straightened, stretching his back a little, and as she looked up at him she noted that he appeared to be entirely sober now. Ice blue looking back at her.
Pepper reached up and placed a hand on his waist, gently pulling him towards her. Obadiah obliged and stooped down to meet her lips. "Stay," she whispered, kissing him again. He nodded and pushed off his shirt, padding over to hang it on the back of the chair. She smiled at both. Fishing his Blackberry from his pocket she watched him study it intently for a few seconds, then holding it in the palm of his hand, he carefully folded his pants before placing them on the chair.
The bed dipped and she watched with a little bemusement as he placed the phone next to his pillow. He ignored her quizzical expression and reached out to pull her back until she rested against his chest. Gradually their breathing began to slow and eventually become synchronised as her eyes slipped closed. Pepper slept right through until morning with Obadiah's arm around her waist and his fingers knowingly brushing against that sensitive spot on her lower stomach time and time again.
She awoke early and knew he was gone without having to look. With great effort and a little pain from her protesting muscles, she noticed that a note lay on the pillow next to her, the imprint of his head still visible beneath it.
Good morning, Pepper,
I had some early conference calls to make and didn't want to wake you,
You should take the day off.
- Obadiah.
She didn't remember there being any early morning conference calls scheduled from his office but did allow the delicious possibility of an hour or two more of sleep wash over her. She stretched out and revelled in the luxury of the sheets and pillows. But in doing so she brought herself back to the reality of where she was. Pepper had helped Tony decide on certain aspects of his décor and, now, everywhere that she looked reminded her of conversations, jokes, battles lost and won... If it had been up to Tony the house would have been comprised entirely out of glass and metal. Pepper decided to get up and head to work, to do as much to help Tony as she could and remain hopeful.
She navigated the winding roads on her way home and thought back to the events of the previous night. It made her blush. As did the small scattering of little blemishes and faint bruises she had discovered on her body this morning. Another evening of good company with the added possibility of great sex would perhaps not be such a bad thing, she thought. When did she ever do something just for herself, just because it felt good? She would have to be incredibly careful not to complicate things too much or allow this to become fodder for company gossip, but…
Her phone sprung to life in the car, showing Jim Rhodes on the caller ID.
"Good morning," she answered. "How are you?"
"Hi, Pepper," he began excitedly. "Listen, I've got some fantastic news."