Hey everybody! To the surprise of no one, it finally happened: I wrote a sequel to "Nightlight," and here it is, full of lemony goodness. (This fic is rated M for a reason; there will be sex. :)) I really had fun writing this, because if there are two things I like, those things are lemons and banter, so Tony and Pepper are pretty much the perfect couple in that respect. :) Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own no part of the Marvel Universe (other than some of the various items they produce...plus some Avengers crafts I've made myself. :))

Daylight

Pepper woke with a start. For a disorienting instant, she found herself still half-asleep and unable to remember who the hell was sleeping next to her—then she remembered that it was Tony, and she grinned in the early morning light that had slipped into the room through a gap in the curtains. Now she remembered—they were dating now, and last night, he'd fallen asleep in her bed. And this morning…

Suddenly, Pepper blushed. She wasn't embarrassed exactly—it was just strange, knowing someone for years and then—and sure, they'd flirted, but it was Tony, who flirted with everyone, and now, two days after the first time they'd ever kissed, he was in her bed, wearing nothing but boxers which she should not be staring at! Closing her eyes, Pepper sighed.

A week ago, she couldn't have imagined this moment—well, she could have if she'd tried, but she'd never let herself go down that road. Years of flirting aside, Tony was her boss, and she'd always been determined to keep their relationship professional. But lately…well, lately, when he wasn't driving her to distraction, Pepper had to admit that her thoughts about Tony Stark hadn't all been of a professional nature. She'd worried that it was a one-sided thing though, and Natalie's presence had seemed to confirm that fear—until the night before last, when they'd found themselves standing on a rooftop, and Tony had been his usual infuriating self, and he'd been dying apparently…and then suddenly, they were kissing. It was a lot to adjust to all at once.

Opening her eyes again, Pepper couldn't help but smile at him, one side of his face pressed into a pillow. It seemed like a good omen that he was still here, still asleep—in all the years she'd known him, to the best of her knowledge, he'd always managed to wake up before every woman he was currently sleeping with, which had made for quite a few occasions when she'd had to show the woman in question the door in the morning. Then again, he was exhausted now, but it was still flattering to know that she was different, that this wasn't going to be a one-time thing. Of course, he probably knew better than to try something like that with her—his genius had to be good for that much.

Tony opened his eyes then, saw her, and to Pepper's immense satisfaction, grinned. She grinned back.

"Hi."

"Hi. Your bed's comfy."

"Thanks. Sleep okay?"

"Yeah, only—" he stared at her, his dark eyes thoughtful. "I can't believe I fell asleep last night without mentioning how great you look. In—sleepwear, I mean."

Pepper snorted. "You really like the oversized t-shirt look?"

"I really do," he said appreciatively, his hands skimming from her shoulders and down her arms before coming to rest at her waist.

"Hmm," Pepper said, shifting closer to him. "I guess I've always underestimated the erotic appeal of my t-shirts."

"Clearly, if this is the first you've heard of it," Tony said, leaning closer. "Just to confirm one more time, this isn't weird, right?"

"No," Pepper said firmly. "I mean, it's weird in the sense that we've known each other for years and this is just now happening, but otherwise, it's fine."

Tony shrugged. "Maybe I just respected the nature of our professional relationship too much to try and make anything happen."

"Maybe," Pepper said with a smile. "Or maybe you were just worried I'd shoot you down."

"That possibility did occur to me," Tony said quietly, the usual swagger gone from his voice. "I mean, we've discussed how much you've had to put up with, because of me—lately, especially. Though in my defense, I really did intend to tell you that I was dying…at some point. Remember the omelet, and—"

"But you're really not dying now, correct?" Pepper prompted, looking at him intently. "And you're going to keep me posted on the status of your dying or not dying for the foreseeable future, right?"

"Technically though, we're all dying all the time anyway, so I can't really—"

"Please, Tony," Pepper said, closing her eyes and burying her face in her pillow. At moments like this, it could be hard to tell if she wanted to kiss him or strangle him.

Amazingly, he was quiet for a moment. "Two things. First, your hair looks great, all mussed up like that. And second…I'm sorry—for worrying you, and for flirting with Agent Romanoff, and—a lot of things, I guess, but I could really use some coffee before I get into a long list of specific offenses."

Pepper's eyes flew open. "Wait, did you just apologize to me?

"I—maybe," Tony said. Pepper wondered if it was possible to be a CEO for as long as Tony had and not try to equivocate everything. "I mean, yes, I—are you trying to record this on your phone?"

"Okay," Pepper said, brandishing her phone at him. "Just say it one more time, for posterity."

"No, because I don't want that becoming your new ringtone," he said, trying to snatch the phone away. Pepper laughed as he made a grab for it, and he grinned when she held the phone just out of reach…and then they both froze when they realized that he'd just rolled on top of her, and they were in bed, and they were wearing hardly any clothing. For once, Tony appeared to be speechless.

"We could try—you know…making out again," Pepper blurted out at last. "That's gone pretty well so far."

"Excellent idea, Ms. Potts," Tony said, clearly trying not to look as flustered as he felt, "although first, you might want to put down your phone, since you're dangerously close to hitting the camera button, and I'm not sure we really wanna make a sex tape on our first date."

"Oh—God," Pepper muttered, tossing the phone away from her—it landed by the door with an audible thunk. Then she looked at Tony again and narrowed her eyes. "It's so romantic of you, trying not to make a sex tape on our first date."

"I am nothing if not a romantic," Tony said with a smile, and that made her laugh a little, but then she fell silent, because slowly, almost hesitantly, he was leaning toward her, and Pepper tilted her mouth toward his, and then they were kissing.

When his mouth was on hers, Pepper found that it was next to impossible to stay annoyed at Tony, or to do much of anything but wonder why they hadn't started kissing a long time ago. Pepper knew from Tony's famous (or infamous) popularity with women that he wasn't all talk, but still, Pepper hadn't expected to ever fall in love or lust with him, so it was a little disconcerting to find that she'd done both. Now, his tongue touched hers, and it was such a wonderful feeling, a sort of mix of relief and elation, to be holding him, to have him warm and real and alive, and touching her like this. It was odd too, touching someone she'd seen every day for years, and only just now noticing certain muscles and scars, not to mention the bruises from the fight at Stark Expo, which were just beginning to fade. She ran her hands through his hair as his mouth trailed down toward her neck. She felt him start to suck at the skin there, but then he paused.

"Is this okay?" he muttered against her throat, his voice low and breathless, and she shivered, wondering how she'd managed to keep her hands off him for as long as she had.

"Yeah, but just a second," she said, her voice unsteady as she grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, tossing it over by her cell phone. Pepper willed herself not to blush when she looked at him, but she felt her cheeks burn a little anyway when his jaw dropped. She grinned when he slowly smiled.

"Quit staring," she finally said, smacking him lightly on the arm.

"Isn't that kind of the point here?" Tony said. "Appreciating you, I mean."

"Don't just look," Pepper said, laughing when he all but pounced on her and resumed kissing her neck…enthusiastically. Maybe she'd wear a turtleneck tomorrow, assuming they'd left her bed by then…

"Ah," she sighed when he nipped at her skin. "Tony…"

"Does that mean 'extremely good' or just 'very good'?" he whispered, his mustache tickling her.

"It's…mmm…quite good," she said, her voice unsteady. Then Pepper smiled. "Um…are you going to talk the whole time?"

Tony chuckled against her collarbone. "Usually I'm the one who says that."

"Really?" Pepper said, gasping a little as his mouth moved lower, his tongue sliding past her clavicle. "I figured—ah—you'd…talk a lot…mmm…"

"What, like how you talk more when you're nervous?" he said, and for a few minutes, Pepper couldn't do much but gasp and run her fingers through his hair and along his back and shoulders while his mouth did incredible things to her breasts.

"I…I don't talk more when I'm nervous," she managed at last. He'd apparently finished teasing her nipples and was now planting kisses around her belly button.

"Yeah, you do," he murmured. "You're doing it right now."

"Well, you're talking too," Pepper pointed out, biting back a groan when his hands—on her thighs now—eased down her panties (which were a shade of electric blue she was thankful he didn't take the time to comment on), and gently parted her legs—he was way too good at this. "Does that mean you're nervous too?"

"Possibly," he said to the inside of her thigh. "That's an excellent question that I'm going to consider…later."

Pepper almost came right then and there—his fingers were stroking her now, and his tongue, God, his whole mouth was executing heretofore unknown maneuvers all around her clitoris, just teasing her (and maybe himself too) at first, licking and sucking and making her groan without really giving her what she wanted, and then she felt his breath against her, felt him breathing her in and sucking on the perfect spot, and that was it, she came with a breathless gasp that quickly turned into a moan as he slid a finger inside her, making the sweet ache coursing through her go on and on.

"Ahh…Tony," she breathed, shivering when he slid another finger inside her, gently stroking her. "You know…I'm gonna get you back for this later."

"I sincerely hope so," Tony said, nipping at her hip bone before moving up to kiss her again, and Pepper smiled, tasting herself on his tongue and shuddering as his fingers continued their slow, torturous motions inside her. She could feel him, hard against her thigh, the tip of him slick; he'd apparently gotten rid of his boxers when she'd been otherwise occupied. Pepper resisted the urge to shift the sheet still partially covering them so she could get a better look—barring any unexpected explosions in their vicinity (it was going to take a while to forget the disaster that had been Stark Expo), there'd be plenty of chances for that later.

"All right," Pepper said, finally breaking the kiss a few minutes later. "That's enough. Get on your back."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Still giving orders like a CEO, I see," but he withdrew his fingers and lay down willingly enough, his expression curious and very hungry—Pepper could really tell that he was as ready as she was, the way he licked his lips and his eyes, always dark, seemed to get darker as he stared up at her.

"Well, I haven't officially stepped down yet," she said, reaching toward the bedside table and pulling open a drawer. "And I may decide not to. After all, I never formally resigned, and it remains to be seen whether or not I'm as dysfunctional a CEO as you are."

"You know, contrary to popular belief, I'm not actually riddled with disease," Tony said, nodding at the condom. "I mean, I haven't slept with…that many women."

"I'm not even gonna dignify that with a response," Pepper said cheerfully. "However, I will help you with this."

"Oh…wow," Tony murmured, closing his eyes and sighing quietly as she rolled the condom on. "This is—ahh—payback for earlier, isn't it?"

"Sort of," Pepper breathed, surprised at how she was practically trembling with anticipation. Just seeing him like this, having him in her hands, was almost unbearably sexy. "Later I'll try to come up with a more creative way to torture you though."

He smiled and opened his eyes. "I'll look forward to that. So? Ready?"

In answer, she straddled him and immediately leaned down for a brief but very heated kiss—God, she was starting to think she could spend days just kissing him…

"Hey," Tony said, smiling up at her as she rested her hands on his chest and poised herself above him. He was still trying to play it cool, like they did this all the time, but she could see that he was sweating a little, his jaw clenched and his hands shaking slightly when he grabbed her hips. "Aren't you—ahh—supposed to buy me dinner first?"

"Okay, I should definitely be the one who says that," Pepper said, sighing as she teased him a little—turnabout was fair play, after all—and lingered on the tip of him for a few moments before sinking down, making them both gasp.

"Excuse me—while I concentrate—on not completely embarrassing myself," Tony muttered, his expression intent as he thrust up into her. Pepper felt her eyes roll back in her head—she ground down on him and they both groaned, and it occurred to Pepper in some distant, still sane part of her mind that with anyone else, she might have been a bit embarrassed, making noises like this and giving orders during sex. But Tony wasn't anybody else, and since he was clearly as lost in this as she was, she decided not to mention it later—anyway, what was the point of being coy or playing hard to get when she'd known him for so long and they were currently having enthusiastic sex in her bed?

I need to take a page from Tony's book and just let go like this more often, Pepper thought distantly, smiling when she realized that with Tony Stark as her boyfriend, life was probably about to get a lot more uninhibited and fun, her sex life especially. Then she gasped when he tilted his head up and ran his teeth and tongue along her right nipple.

"Concentrate, Pepper," he said, his voice low. "You don't wanna miss the good stuff."

"Sorry, but you're very…distracting," she gasped, and when she leaned down to kiss him, she swallowed his next groan as she covered his mouth with hers.

Minutes and quite a few mind-numbingly amazing thrusts later, Pepper was coming again, moaning and then all but shrieking up at the ceiling as he pressed into her, hard, his fingers digging into her hips while her own hands gripped his shoulders, the light of the arc reactor still visible as an afterimage even when she closed her eyes. Admittedly, she wasn't as experienced as Tony, but sex had never been like this for Pepper—had she ever been this turned on before?

"Okay," Tony said, neatly rolling them over so that her back, slick with sweat now, was pressed into the sheets, now a hopeless tangle. "Just give me a few minutes and later I'll…ungh…make this last…longer."

"I promise," Pepper gasped, her fingers digging into his back as he continued to thrust, "that I'll try…not to laugh...when you're done."

And in the end, she didn't laugh—by the time Tony came a few moments later, she was too out of breath to do anything but gasp when he finally shouted with relief and shuddered all over. Her own body seemed to be in some kind of pleasure overload—the final time he thrust, she moaned as her insides clenched in an aftershock that was better than most orgasms she'd ever had. She ran a hand through his hair as he lay on top of her, his face pressed into the pillow beneath both their heads—the only one left on the bed now—and smiled at the sweaty mess they'd been reduced to. She felt like she was ready to sleep for a few hours and then do this all over again.

"Whoa," he said at last, still sounding as breathless as she felt. "As soon as we can move, I think we should do that again."

"Right," Pepper said. "That could have been a fluke. Further testing is needed to see if we can…duplicate that event. But, for now, my hypothesis is that…experimenting with our newfound physical chemistry is going to result in our not getting out of bed today."

"God, that's hot," Tony muttered, turning his head and pressing kisses down the side of her face. "Talk sexy science to me, Pepper."

Pepper laughed. "At some point, we're both gonna need a shower. And food and water—fuel for more...testing."

"Mmm," Tony agreed, his face pressed into the hollow of her throat. "But maybe a nap first."

"Definitely," Pepper agreed, her eyelids already sliding shut. "And when we wake up, I think you owe me an omelet."

"Agreed," Tony whispered, and in moments, they were both asleep.