"Tony?" Pepper cautiously descended the stairs to his garage, wondering what she would find this time around. She had heard the crash, even from upstairs, and knew it couldn't be good because he had mastered his landings quite some time ago.
The path of destruction was quite clear. Part of the entrance had been torn away, Dummy was overturned, and his desk had been literally broken in two. That was where she found him and where his remaining mobile robots had managed to get most of the suit off of him.
She had learned long ago that he would always refuse professional medical treatment. And because of it, she had been forced out of necessity to not only learn first aid, but also a certain level of surgical maneuvers. However, she still wasn't a doctor, could barely be considered a nurse, and no matter how many different injuries she saw on him, each new one brought an added level of stress to her day until she knew for certain it was going to heal with no major problems.
When she saw his face this time, she almost started crying. It was covered in blood, but she couldn't tell exactly where any of it was coming from. The lining he wore between him and the metal of the suit was torn away from his right shoulder, and a deep gash there had seemed to stop bleeding only recently.
"Tony?" her voice croaked out, barely a whisper, before becoming stronger. "Tony?"
She was beginning to have a fear rise up in her that he had finally gotten himself killed when she saw a splattering of blood rhythmically ripple away from his nose. He was breathing. Thank whatever deity there was that watched out for superheroes, he was breathing.
"Jarvis, does he have any spinal injuries?" She set to work getting him patched up as best as she could, hoping what she saw already was the extent of his injuries.
"None that I can detect," came the cool reply. "However he does have four rather serious lacerations across his scalp and upper body, along with part of his suit lodged in a particularly personal part of his anatomy."
She sighed. "If anything is damaged beyond repair, he's not blaming me."
She then got to the task of picking him up from the floor, while at the same time trying not to injure herself on the shattered desk. Not an easy feat, but she somehow managed to get him to his makeshift exam table. She sewed up the gashes on his shoulders and back first before carefully sifting through his hair. If she ended up having to cut any of it, she'd never hear the end of it. Trying to stitch up a wound without trapping any hair inside was an entirely different dilemma.
She knew the best course of action would probably be to let him sleep under the careful watch of Jarvis, but the dried blood on his face was still making her cringe even though she knew it wasn't from any cut actually on his face. In the small garage bathroom she found some clean towels and ran them under the flow of warm water.
Sitting at his side, she carefully dabbed away at his blood-streaked face. Inch by inch his skin tone revealed itself until the only remnants of his injury were visible in his hairline. As she ran the last clean cloth over his face, his eyes fluttered open.
"How do you feel?" she asked cautiously.
"Like I got ran over by a bus." He stretched his jaw before continuing. "Interesting story. It happened once. Very similar sensation."
"You got ran over by a bus?" She stared at him, her mouth agape.
"Well, I was in the suit…"
"You know what," she stood up and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't even want to know."
"Yeah, well what I want to know is why it feels like my ass is on fire…"
She paused, her eyes flying open. "I haven't actually gotten to all of your injuries yet."
He attempted to pull down on the waist of his pants, but his arms wouldn't work right. "A little help?"
She sighed stepped back towards him. "Lift your hips and don't get any ideas."
He grinned. "What if they're really good ideas?"
"Just shut up."
"Pepper, I'm hurt. I don't think you've ever talked to me that way before. Not that I don't like it." He wiggled his eyebrows. "But when have you ever known me to 'shut up'?"
"There's a first time for everything." She prodded her fingers around juncture of his legs to his body, finding nothing. "Turn over."
Grunting and gasping in a way that made a slight pink hue wash over her face, he slowly turned himself onto his stomach. She immediately saw the cause of his discomfort sticking from under his left cheek.
"This is going to hurt," she warned.
"Too late for that, just do it." He turned his head as far as he dared, trying to get a look at her face.
Frowning, she looked up at his face. "Well, it's just that it's…" And quickly she pulled out the piece of metal.
"Ow… warning would have been nice."
"If I gave you warning, you would have clenched and caused more damage."
"Okay, okay, so just kiss it and make it better okay? This really fucking sucks."
"When have you ever known me to kiss your ass?"
"I could think of a few things that would be better."
"What did I say about your ideas?" She finished the last stitch. "Get up. I'll help you to the shower. Because as soon as you hit your bed, you're staying there. And I don't want to think about what you'd smell like 2 days from now if you don't bathe first."
"Forget my ideas… I like yours better."
Brushing off his advances in the elevator and down the hallway was something she had gotten used to. Asking her to join him in the shower was nothing new. She just peeled off her suit jacket, stepped out of her shoes, and helped him sit under the flow of the shower on a stool as she gently scrubbed away at the dried blood and grime.
"Not fair." He reached up and tugged at the hem of her skirt. "You're not supposed to wear clothes in the shower."
"I'm not taking the shower, you are."
"You're getting wet."
She paused as she felt another blush run across the surface of her skin. Not responding, she continued to clean the rest of his body, trying not to notice the rather prominent erection he was sporting as she cleaned his torso and legs.
As she was drying him off, she couldn't even look him in the eye because every time she did, he would give her one of his most flirtatious smiles while effectively undressing her with his eyes. She may have known it was still happening, but at least she didn't have to see it.
She patted her clothes as dry as she could in a hurry and wrapped a soft robe around her before helping him to his bed, still trying to ignore the sly grin on his face.
"You need to get out of those wet clothes."
"I will."
"And then we get to have some fun?"
"Sorry, no fun for the patient."
He puffed out his lower lip. "Okay, how about some cuddling? I'll keep the heavy petting to a minimum, I promise."
"I still have work to do, Tony."
"You know, you need sleep, too."
"I'll sleep later."
She had him take his pain medicine and tucked him into bed. By the time she had gathered up her jacket and shoes from his bathroom, she could hear the faint rough breathing that would soon become soft snores.
"Quite the mess down there," Rhodey commented as he poured himself a cup of coffee the next morning.
"I know. " Pepper was busy rescheduling all of Tony's meetings for the next week, just in case he wasn't recouped by then. "I'm still wondering if those injuries were the cause of him crash landing, or if he got them because he tried to land too quickly."
"Can you blame me for wanting to get back home to you?" Pepper rolled her eyes as Tony stepped from around the corner with a slight limp.
"You're supposed to be sleeping."
"Can't. Too many updates to make." He grabbed a bagel and apple from the countertop and a bottle of water from the refrigerator. "Plus I have to make sure my best friend isn't trying to pick up my wife while I'm incapacitated." He grinned at them both.
"'Wife'?" Rhodey nearly choked on his coffee. "When did that happen?"
Tony's brow furrowed. "I can't really remember. But then, I was looking at some old videos of me in the shop, and I don't remember all of those either. I think I hit my head pretty hard yesterday." He smiled at Pepper. "Don't worry, hun. I'll remember our anniversary eventually. If not, I'll just be like every other husband in the world, and you'll have to give me not so subtle hints for the rest of my life." He kissed her on the cheek before whistling and limping his way back down the steps.
"So… 'Mrs. Stark'…" Rhodey tried to fight back his grin. "Why wasn't I invited to the wedding?"
"Don't feel bad." She didn't hide the surprise on her face. "I didn't get to go either."
"Then what the hell makes him think you two are married?"
"I… I don't know." She closed her laptop. "He hit his head. He must have amnesia. He's flirted before, but never like this."
"Sure he's not just playing with you again?"
"If he is, he's changed his tactics." She stood up and sighed. "This is not going to be fun. I'll talk to you later, Rhodey. If I survive, that is."
He smirked, finishing his coffee, as she disappeared down the stairs.
His music was as loud as ever. The broken desk was sitting at the far side of the garage, replaced by a somewhat smaller one. Temporarily no doubt. That was where she found him. Hunched over some new project. Or maybe it was an old one. He had so many she had lost track.
He looked up at her, smiling, when she had Jarvis turn the music down. "Rhodey didn't follow you?"
"No," she replied. "He's probably on his way back into work. Are you okay?"
"A little sore." He leaned back in his chair. "I'll live. How about you? Why didn't you wake me up when you came to bed last night? I didn't even feel you leave this morning."
"I didn't sleep with you, Tony."
"Where did you sleep? The couch?"
She opened her mouth, and then closed it without making a sound. "Yes, actually I did," she said after a moment.
"Why did you do that?"
"I didn't mean to. I was working, trying to get your schedule sorted out. And I just fell asleep."
"Well, at least I get to spend some quality time with you now." He smiled and grabbed her wrist to pull her into his lap. He winced when her full weight was on him but didn't move to ease his pain.
"Tony, you're still injured." She tried to stand up, but he held fast. "You shouldn't be putting any extra pressure on your stitches."
"You're not that heavy," he ran his nose along her left ear, inhaling the scent of her hair. "And the pressure's nice."
"Well, I don't feel like re-stitching them so I want you to go upstairs and rest. Read a book, watch tv, even order Jarvis around on whatever project you're working on. But I want you doing it from your bed."
"There's better uses for beds…"
"Tony…"
"Will you at least come up there with me? You know, keep me company?"
"*If* you go upstairs right now, and *if* you stay in bed and relax, I might be convinced to stay and read you a book or something."
"Let me choose the book?"
After arguing with him for nearly an hour, Pepper finally got him to accept the fact that 'The Kama Sutra' was not appropriate reading material. He then relinquished to letting her read him the morning newspaper before leaving him to do whatever he wanted. She didn't expect him to stay in bed the whole time because arguing that point would be like fighting with a brick wall, however she hoped that her stern looks were at least good enough to keep him in his room and out of her hair. Most of his meetings had been rescheduled, but a trip to Tokyo was proving to be more of a challenge.
She had finally reached an agreement with everyone involved (save Tony, but he didn't get a say in this matter) when Rhodey reappeared.
"So how'd it go?"
"It hasn't." She didn't look up from her work.
"Weren't you heading to set him straight when I left?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"And…" she sighed. "It never came up. I was too busy trying to convince him to rest."
"And you got him to do that? I didn't know you were that good…"
"I got him to stay in his room." She finally looked at him. "Whether he's actually resting or not is another matter."
"That still takes talent."
"And in the meantime, he still thinks we're married."
"Have you figured out how you're going to fix that?"
"I don't want to damage his brain any more than it is already. Hopefully after some of his injuries have healed, he'll be able to accept the fact that he's still single."
"I think you're enjoying this." He grinned.
"You think I enjoy being constantly hit on by my employer?"
"It's nothing new, is it? I mean, this is Tony Stark we're talking about."
"I know, I know." She sighed. "Listen, I'll figure it out."
He laughed. "Okay, okay." He grabbed an apple off the countertop. "So give him my love when you see him," he called over his shoulder on the way out the door.
"Not funny."
"Hey, baby. What's there to eat?"
Pepper looked up from her work to see Tony's smiling face. And a hint of something else behind his eyes.
"Don't call me 'baby'." Her eyes narrowed.
He blinked, frowned, and took a step backwards. "Is everything okay?"
"No, Tony, actually it isn't. Every time you come back from one of your little missions injured to the extent you are, I have to switch everything around. And quite frankly some of your business partners are starting to show signs that they're not going to be very accepting of this situation anymore."
"Hey, hey, calm down." He put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I'm feeling better already. Send me to some of those whatever they are tomorrow, okay? Will that make it better?"
"You're still limping around, you're covered in fresh stitches, and I doubt your concussion has had time to heal. You're not fit to go to any meeting."
He pulled her up into an embrace. "Want me to show you just how fit I am?" He buried his face in her hair and nibbled on her ear.
"I'm not in the mood, Tony."
"We could work on that, too." He wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing his hips to hers.
"How about I fix you something for dinner, and then you go to bed?"
"Are you coming with me this time?"
"Tony…" she raised an eyebrow in warning.
"Okay, okay… I guess I'm still the patient. So…" he let go of her waist. "Are you going to cook for me or are we talking take-out?"
She had often thought of herself as a glorified babysitter. She picked up after him, made sure he was eating right, and ensured that he got to all of his appointments, albeit not always on time. Tucking him into bed, however, was a new one on her.
With his newest set of injuries, it was quickly becoming apparent that he needed round the clock care. Otherwise, she doubted he would allow himself adequate time to properly heal.
Settling herself in the guest bedroom she had long ago claimed as hers (and was getting much more use out of as of recent), she was finally able to relax herself into the plush pillows. She had to say one thing; Tony did know how to take care of his guests. Well enough that more than once had she seriously considered giving up her apartment and taking him up on the offer of letting her live with him.
Almost. What stopped her was that occasionally she almost gave into his flirting, catching herself just in time to confirm that no, she really shouldn't be living here. With his recent amorous mindset, it was even more dangerous, however completely necessary that she keep an eye on him.
It was to these thoughts that she finally slipped into a restless sleep.
Tony, on the other hand, was still finding it difficult to rest. Nothing was on tv that could hold his interest for long. His mind wasn't clear enough to work on any of his projects from his bedroom. He even paged through a few books, not finding any particular one he wanted to read.
Finally, he left his room, expecting to find Pepper in the living room working on some project that he was sure could wait until morning. Instead, he found her sleeping soundly in a bedroom about as far away from his as could be found. He tried to think of a logical explanation of this, but the thoughts were quickly tempted away by the vacant spot next to her on the bed.
He slipped out of his robe and slowly climbed into the bed, careful not to disturb her. For the longest time, he just lay there, watching her sleep. The rhythmic sound of her breathing as her chest rose and fell had a calming effect on him, and he was soon feeling the urge to drift off to sleep. He ran a finger lightly down her arm closest to him and smiled as she shifted in her sleep to be closer to him. As her body came to rest against his, sleep became the last thing on his mind.
The smell of her hair, the feel of her skin, the sound of her murmurs in her sleep all sent little surges through his body. He kissed her forehead softly as his hands skimmed up and down her back. The murmurs became light moans as she pressed herself further into his body and brought a leg over his.
He wanted to let her sleep. He was well aware that she didn't get anywhere near the amount of sleep she should. Her movements, however, were counterproductive on those thoughts. He was finally in a position where he could wrap his arms around her body. As her head tilted up, her lips proved to be irresistible.
Gently at first, his lips touched hers, but the kiss became much deeper as her lips parted. He ran his hand over her hip and up under her tank top to cup the side of her breast.
"Mmm… Tony…" she whispered when their lips parted.
"Yeah, Pepper?" he quietly spoke against her lips.
Almost immediately her eyes opened, and she looked at him in shock. "What are you doing?"
"Not as much as I could be." He smiled as his thumb grazed over her nipple.
"Oh, my God… Tony…" She closed her eyes and pushed against him to sit up.
He winced as his back was pressed against the mattress. Apparently the stitches hadn't had time to heal very much. "I think you should be saying that a little later into what I have planned." He grinned and moved to kiss her again, but she was quickly off the bed and ordering the lights on.
"I don't know what you think you're doing…"
"I think it's pretty obvious, don't you?" He sat up.
"You're bleeding…"
He looked back at the bed, and sure enough about a nickel sized spot of red was visible against the white of the sheets.
Pepper sighed. "Let me fix you up, but then you're going back to bed."
When he woke in the morning, his first order of business was to find Pepper. She had refused to allow him to sleep in the same bed as her, citing that he had already managed to tear some of his stitches out, and she didn't feel like replacing more than what she had to. He relinquished to sleeping by himself but grumpily complained about it the entire time she was tucking him back into bed.
The only other living person he found in his house, however, was Rhodey.
"Feeling any better?" his friend asked.
"Not really." Tony grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. "My stitches itch, I've got a major headache that won't go away, and Pepper seems to be avoiding me like the plague."
"In her defense, you have thrown her for a loop."
"I have a flying suit in my basement. Mind being a little more specific?"
Rhodey sighed. "Listen, sit down. She asked me to wait for you while she went into the office this morning. That's why she's not here. She said you still needed a lot of supervision."
"'Supervision'? I'm not hurt that bad…"
"Okay, how about this… What do you remember about your wedding?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I wasn't there. If you and Pepper really are married like you're claiming, I knew nothing of it before yesterday."
"That's ridiculous. Why wouldn't you have been there?"
"You tell me." He crossed his arms. "If it even happened, which my guess is it didn't. I'm almost completely certain that you're not married, Tony. Which is why I'd like to know why you think you are. I just want to know what you remember that makes you think you are."
"Honestly?" Tony finally took his seat at the kitchen table.
"That's usually the best course of action."
"I don't really remember anything. Not with our personal relationship, anyway. But I know it's got to be true. Like you know without looking that the sky is blue or the grass is green. One of those things. It just has to be."
"I hate to be the one to tell you man, but it's not. You guys aren't married."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, knowing you, I'd say you'd buy her the biggest, most elaborate and noticeable ring as she'd let you, right?"
"Sounds like me."
"So have you noticed her wearing a ring lately?"
Pepper was never one to tip-toe around anything. At least not figuratively. She always handled things head-on with the precision of which many computers would be envious. Dealing with this brand new Tony Stark, however, was testing her abilities.
Twice on the way back to Tony's house, she contemplated turning back around and finishing all her day's work in office. She also knew that Rhodey would have to go to his real job eventually and leaving Tony "I'm married to Pepper Potts" Stark alone in a house that was wired to allow him to do practically anything was not a very good idea. It could theoretically cause more problems than letting him ogle her while she tried to straighten out his business plans.
Seeing that Rhodey's truck was gone from the drive was not a good sign. The fact that the house was quiet was worse. And finding Tony sitting pensively on his couch doing nothing might as well have been the fifth horseman of the apocalypse.
She sighed. This appeared to be the best time to do it. To just tell him and have it be over with so she could get her work done. Even so, she knew it was going to end up being awkward. And Tony and awkward didn't usually go together very well.
"Tony?" He shifted, acknowledging her presence, but didn't move to look at her. "I have to tell you something."
He stood up so quickly that she nearly lost all the files she had clutched in her arms. She managed to balance them out just in time for Tony to pull them from her grasp and scatter them across the coffee table. In an instant, she was staring into his shining eyes as his hand cupped her face, and his other arm snaked around her body.
"Tony, I think you have the wrong impression. We're not married. We're not even dating."
"I know. Rhodey told me."
"Then what the hell are you doing?"
"Well, I figured that maybe we should be."
"It doesn't work that way."
"Tell me you weren't thinking of me."
"What?"
"Last night, after we kissed, when you moaned my name. Tell me you weren't thinking of me."
"I was asleep."
"Your subconscious was in control. Tell me it wasn't me you were dreaming of."
"That's not fair…"
"To hell with fair. Let's go for reality."
She opened her mouth but no sound came out. Finally she closed her eyes and sighed.
"Okay, let me try," Tony whispered against her ear. "Day in, day out, you take care of me. You thwart my advances but know at the very least some of them have to be coming from somewhere. Then there's times like the other night. I come back and you have to play nursemaid. I'm sure you've probably seen more of my body than any doctor, and you know what happens to it when you're around me. I'm tired of resisting these urges, Pepper."
"I have never known you to resist any urge," she whispered. "You always act on your whims."
"Well, I have the funny feeling that acting on my whims right now just might get me slapped."
"How often have I slapped you?"
One corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. "Sober? Never. Drunk… well that's another matter. I can remember a few times, which probably means there's more I don't remember. My luck, those are probably the most interesting ones where it would be beneficial to have on video somewhere to watch repeatedly. Jarvis, search for surveillance files within those parameters."
~Yes, sir.~
"You're going to make a collage of me hitting you?" She closed her eyes tightly. "Tony, that's…"
"Kinky?" he offered. "You should know my kinks by now, Pepper."
"All too well…"
"Which means you're going to join me in a couple of them?"
"Which means I know how to avoid them." She pushed against him and turned away.
With most of his meetings and other business dealings which required his personal attendance rescheduled until at least the following week, the next few days were mostly uneventful. Pepper was once again spending her nights at her own home, and Tony was left to wander around his estate by his own accord. Needless to say, he bored easily, and Pepper had stopped answering her phone after the first four marriage proposals.
He had skimmed through the videos offered up by Jarvis, not finding any of them as particularly stimulating as the real thing. A couple of the times, a fraction of a second look on her features would send off a few sparks below his beltline, but none elicited anything resembling true arousal.
His dreams on the other hand… If he were only able to make some sort of a hard copy (beyond the obvious effects to his body).
It was three days before his next mission, and this time Pepper was there to greet him as he returned home.
"I wanted to make sure you didn't come back thinking you were Queen Elizabeth," she offered with a small smile.
"Please," he scoffed. "I'm Marilyn Monroe."
"As interesting as it would be to see you in a dress over an air vent…"
"You just want to see my tushie, don't you?"
Pepper sighed. "Yes, actually. I do."
His eyes instantly lit up. "And now you're speaking my language…"
"I need to check your stitches."
"Nice cover."
"You know I don't give into your wishful thinking."
"How about my wishful pleas?"
She rolled her eyes as he dramatically dropped his pants to his ankles.
"Jarvis, I'd like pictures of this from all angles." He grinned at her.
She raised an eyebrow before he turned to let her inspect how well he was healing.
"It's not often I can get proof of you staring at my ass."
She remained silent as she gently removed the bandage covering his wound.
"You have to admit it would make interesting Christmas cards."
"Exactly what your investors would want to see, I'm sure."
"You never know."
"It's a little red around the edges. I'm going to put some ointment on it, and then I want you to take it easy for the rest of the day."
"So I guess that means you're on top."
"Tony…"
"What? You, me, and a bottle of Hershey's syrup. I can't think of a better way to spend the afternoon."
"That's not an option."
"If you're afraid of getting too sticky, we can always take it to the shower."
"The only reason I ever follow you into the shower is if you can't bathe yourself."
"You know, I suddenly forgot how those fandangled shampoo bottles work…"
"Then use the bar soap."
"I haven't met a bar soap I've liked yet." Tony scrunched his nose. "I don't think that stuff is even fit for use on skin, let alone hair."
"Yes, I forgot how delicate your skin is," Pepper deadpanned. "It's practically porcelain."
"I think that's how I'd describe your skin. Although I don't think I've touched enough of it to be completely sure. We'll have to remedy that shortly."
"Tony, pull up your pants."
He looked back at her as she put away the spare gauze and other medical supplies. "Or I could just leave them off, and we could go upstairs."
"Do I need to remind you…"
"I know, I know. I get it." He held up his hands in defense. "I get it that we're not married. It just feels like we should be."
When Pepper arrived for work the following morning, she had the feeling she should have stayed home. The main reason for that being that her office was filled with red roses and one single purple hyacinth. She should have known something was up when she heard all the whispering in the halls and the odd glances.
Settling into her chair, she immediately dialed Tony's number.
"Good morning," came his cheerful greeting.
"Would you mind explaining what's going on with my office?"
"Don't you like flowers?"
"It's called 'overkill', Tony. And what exactly are you apologizing for?"
"Who says I was apologizing for anything? Maybe I just wanted to get you flowers."
"The hyacinth doesn't keep secrets very well."
He laughed. "Okay. So I've been a little difficult recently."
She smiled at his honesty. What was even more interesting to her was that he was being completely serious.
"So…" he continued. "Any other way I can make up for my… being difficult?"
"I'd settle for you making it to this morning's meeting on time."
"Ouch, Pepper. Who's being difficult now?"
"You know very well I'd never take that job away from you."
He laughed wholeheartedly. "Well, in that case, you're going to have to suffer through dinner tonight. Let's say, 8:00, my kitchen."
"I'm not so sure about this."
"Why? Because we're alone here?" Tony grinned as he poured her a glass of wine.
"No, because you cooked this. I've never known you to cook."
"Maybe there are some things you don't know about me." He handed her a napkin and took his seat opposite her. "I just hope you like garlic. No vampires tonight."
"At least that means you won't be going after my neck." The corner of her mouth lifted in a small smile.
"Well, that's going to be a tough one because it looks very delicious from here."
"Tony…"
"Okay, okay. I'll try to behave."
"That would be a first."
Throughout the dinner, Tony remained as gentlemanly as possible - for him, at least. The only one of Pepper's requests he did not answer was as to what wine he had decided to serve with the meal. He instead just sat back and smiled as she tried to guess what the faded label had once said. After the first bottle was gone, he revealed a more basic fruity-sweet wine which Pepper seemed to enjoy just as much as the aged one.
By the end of the meal, he was pleasantly surprised to see that she had (figuratively) let her hair down.
As she was helping him gather the dishes into the dishwasher, they were laughing about something neither could remember. Pepper was leaning against the countertop, trying to wipe the tears away as she laughed uncontrollably. Without even thinking, he cupped the side of her face in his palm and wiped away some of the moisture with his thumb.
He immediately moved in closer to her but was stopped by her voice.
"Tony…" her lips brushed his as she spoke.
"Marry me, Potts. Then everything will be right in my mind," he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers. "At least from my perspective."
"It's not that simple."
"It could be," his lips grazed over her cheek. "Wake up every morning with my arms around you." His other hand grasped her hip. "Spend the day in each other's company." His lips moved firmly against her neck. "Then go to bed wrapped up in each other only to start it over the next day."
"You know it wouldn't work that way," she gasped as he lightly bit her collarbone.
"Okay, so maybe only the good days," he ran his tongue up the curve of her neck. "But we'd have a lot of good days."
Her eyes fluttered close as he pressed his hips into hers. "Mmmm… To-toonnn… Tonnnnyyyyy…."
His hands didn't even feel like his own as he unbuttoned her shirt and skimmed his fingertips over her stomach. At the same time, her hands were making short work of relieving him of his own shirt. As her fingertips traced invisible patterns across his skin, he could swear he felt jolts of electricity headed straight into the arc.
He lifted his head to look at her face as he pulled her flush against him.
The look in her eyes unexpectedly brought him back to the ground. "Ggnnn… God, Pepper, I love it that you're this relaxed. But I want you to be this relaxed without the wine."
When Pepper woke, she found herself in her room at Tony's house. It was still dark out and must have been really early in the morning, however she couldn't get her eyes to focus on the bedside clock. Shaking her head, she sat up.
At the end of the bed was Tony, sprawled out on his side like a large cat. She couldn't help but laugh at the imagery, albeit very quietly.
He sighed in his sleep, stretching his shoulders as he rolled onto his back - and immediately off the bed with a loud thud. Pepper tried not to laugh out loud as she heard a loud groan come from somewhere on the floor.
"Are you okay?" she called.
"I'm having carpet installed on Monday."
"But not today?"
"Today…" he slurred as he raised his right arm, index finger pointed at the ceiling, "I am staying in bed."
"How much did you drink, Tony?"
"I mighta hadda scotch after I put ya ta bed," he sat up and looked at her with one eye. "-a." He smiled at his joke before resting his chin on her bed.
"A bottle or a case?"
"Enough," he closed his eyes and shook his head as he tried to clear his mind. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."
"And why was that?"
"Iyunno…" he smiled momentarily as he cracked one eye open. "You… look really sexy in my shirt."
"And why is that?"
"'Cuz it's you. And you're in my clothes. Sexy," he smiled again. "Sexy, sexy."
"I mean, why am I in your shirt?" she stopped trying to fight her own smile and grinned openly at him.
"I got some butter on yours."
"And my skirt?"
"Didn't really work with my shirt."
"I suppose the same goes for my bra?"
"Oh, yeah. It's a rule."
"A rule?" she was beginning to enjoy Drunk Tony.
"Yeah… when a girl wears a guy's shirt, it's gotta be just the shirt and the underwear." He nodded as if it was a well known fact before knitting his brow. "Unless you're going outside. Then you can wear blue jeans."
She just shook her head and laughed.
"Hey," Tony straightened himself abruptly. "I've never seen you in blue jeans. We should go buy you some."
"Get some sleep first, Tony," she smiled as she pulled him up on the bed. "You can take me shopping later. You did say you were spending today in bed."
"Oh, yeah," he fell back against the pillows, smiling. "But when we get up, I'm getting you a ring. A big one."
Pepper whistled cheerily as she put away the dishes from the previous night. She still wholeheartedly believed a romantic relationship with Tony was a mistake, but he did have the amazing ability to get her to rethink things. His constant flirtations were beginning to wear thin her resolve on the subject.
It wasn't the first time she had fantasized that it just might work. When she first came to work for him, before she knew his full personality, she would have little daydreams of him bringing her flowers in the middle of the workday or blowing off models and actresses to be with her at some charity function. And then when something similar to her long past fantasies did come true, the feel of his hands on her bare back made her think for the first time since she first ushered out one of Tony's hapless one night stands that she really could be the one to get him to settle down.
"Settling down", she came to realize, was all in context. He may no longer jump blindly into bed with any pretty face that caught his eye, but he was still blindly jumping nonetheless.
She sighed, her mind still not completely made up about the man who was still fast asleep in what she considered "her" bed.
Fast asleep, however, wasn't quite right.
Tony grumbled his discontent as a sliver of light made it to his eyes. He pulled the sheets over his head and ordered Jarvis to darken the room.
It took him a moment to realize two things: first off, Jarvis wasn't listening to him and secondly, not only did his sheets not give him any more shade from the offending light, the texture was all wrong. The sheets were made of cotton. Plain. White. Cotton.
"What the fuck?" He quickly sat up, throwing the sheets from his body.
He wasn't in his bedroom. He was in the room where his wife... where Pepper was sleeping when he felt her up. The thought of which brought pleasantly stirring memories to mind, although the amount of alcohol he had the previous night seemed to hinder his growth at the moment. Not that he wished to be much harder.
A situation which may not be avoidable as the object of his fantasies walked through the bedroom door. On the upside, the deviation in blood pressure from his brain seemed to help with his hangover.
"You look like you're enjoying yourself," Pepper couldn't help but smirk at the smile that spread across his features.
"There's always room for improvement," he arched an eyebrow at her. "And hey, look... not bleeding..." He turned his head to look at the still completely white sheets and felt a twinge run from his neck directly down his spine.
"Tony?" she didn't like the strained pose he was holding. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," he wheezed. "I just think I'm gonna die in your bed..."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to be involved in one of your tabloid titles. Turn over."
"Oh, God... be gentle."
"I thought you enjoyed it when I'm forceful with you."
"I like to be able to enjoy you being forceful with me. But pain does not enter into any one of my fantasies. Sorry, but I'm just not *that* kinky."
She silently held back her laugh as her face scrunched up in amusement. "Just lay on your stomach and behave, okay?"
"Behave with what?" he glanced back at her the best he could, a grin spreading across his face as she bunched up her skirt around her hips and climbed up on the bed. "Are you sure you want me on my stomach? Because it might be a little more comfortable if I were on my back."
"On your stomach," Pepper repeated.
She cautiously straddled him, sitting high on his hips. She rubbed her hands together for a moment to warm them up before firmly pressing her palms to his shoulders and slowly moving toward his lower back. She smiled and shook her head as he moaned and arched into her touch.
"I'm sorry I don't have any massage oil. I could go find some if you want me to."
"You," he sighed, "are not moving."
She started with small circles on his lower back and slowly moved upwards on either side of his spine. His muscles were very tight so she started to press in harder with her thumbs. When she reached his neck, he pressed his head forward into the bed.
"I almost went into massage therapy," she offered. "In one of my study groups in high school, we used to sit around giving each other massages while we shot ideas back and forth."
"I'm guessing you were voted nimblest fingers."
"Something like that," she smiled. "I had a few offers of payment. My main problem was that after about a half hour or so, my hands tended to cramp up."
Tony laughed. "A half hour of this, and I may just melt into the bed." He shifted his hips as she moved to the outside of his ribcage.
"Tony, I need you to lay flat on your stomach."
"Can't do that," his reply was muffled by the pillow. "My kickstand is protesting."
Her ministrations stopped abruptly. "Okay, I think that's probably good enough." She moved to get off the bed, but he shifted with her, keeping her atop him as he turned to his back. "Tony..."
"See, now this is better," he smiled as he gripped her legs, just below where her skirt was gathered.
She breathed very slowly and carefully as he rolled his hips beneath her. She bit her bottom lip as his thumbs started to repeat her earlier movements traveling slowly up her inner thighs. When his hands had halfway disappeared beneath her skirt, she gasped and fell forward, supporting herself with her hands on either side of the arc. Her loose hair shaded her face as she looked at him pleadingly.
"I really need you to stop that," she breathed as she started to match his movements with her hips.
"I don't think you want me to," he smiled up at her as his right thumb inched inside the hem of her panties.
"But I *need* you to..." She closed her eyes, trying to stop her own movements.
"I need you, too, Pepper..." He pulled her hips down as he pressed his own up into her. She felt so good against him, but the barriers of his boxers and her underwear were three barriers too many.
With his other hand, he skimmed up her side, happy to find that underneath his shirt she was still wearing, she hadn't yet put her bra back on. Her breath hitched as his thumb grazed the underside of her breast.
"I think your back is better…" she kept her eyes closed as she pulled away from him and hurriedly dashed out the door, leaving him with a dazed look on his face.
He found her in the kitchen, her arms braced against the countertop as she stared down at the empty space in front of her. Her eyes were closed and her breathing still ragged.
"Pepper…" he quietly whispered as he sided up to her.
She jumped, turning and trying to escape his reach, but he stopped her by wrapping an arm around her waist and cradling her face in his free hand. She licked her lips, daring to look him in his eyes as her hands rested on his arms.
"Tony… I…"
"You don't have to say anything," he pressed her backwards against the counter.
He slowly leaned in to her, waiting for a reaction. When he was mere millimeters away, she closed her eyes and tilted her head to meet his lips, her hands traveling up to the base of his neck. He rolled his hips into hers as he proceeded to unbutton her shirt.
'*His* shirt,' he reminded himself as she let it slip from her shoulders. The thought of which made him let loose a low growl, attacking her lips with a new fervor.
When she broke free to gasp for air, he moved to her neck, nibbling and licking his way to her shoulder as he started to fumble with the side zipper on her skirt. Biting her lip, she lightly scratched circles into the back of his shoulders before slowly running her tongue up his ear, grazing her teeth over the top of the lobe just as her skirt finally fell to the floor.
"Ngg…. Pep-perrrr…" he groaned against the front of her shoulder.
"In all fairness, you started it, Tony," she whispered into his ear.
"I might argue that if I had any blood left in my brain." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against him once more as he kicked her skirt across the kitchen floor. "For now I think I'll just go with whatever you say."
"Smart man."
"Yeah, my ideas are gold," he bit at her lip. "With a little hot rod red in there."
She giggled as his hands dipped into the back of her underwear. When he had pulled them down as far as he could without breaking the kiss, he lifted her onto the countertop before making short work of sending them to join her skirt.
Gripping the backs of her thighs possessively, he broke the kiss to look her in the eyes. Her lips were swollen, her breathing ragged, and her eyes glazed over with very evident passion.
"So…" She licked her lips.
"Yeah?"
"Are you going to let me in on some of these red and golden ideas?"
"Step one… get you all hot and bothered."
She allowed him one quick kiss before pulling back again. "I think you have step one covered. How about step two?"
"Oh, well step two is the teasing part."
He slid one hand around to support the back of her hips while the other came over the top of her thigh, softly caressing the mound of fluff between her legs. His thumb began to rub small circles into it until he finally found the nub he was looking for.
Her hips jerked in surprise as he pressed firmly into it and then backed off to repeatedly flick softly with the tip of his thumb. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his as she pulled him back down into a passionate kiss, pausing only briefly on occasion as he continued his movements.
Just as her arms and legs started to tighten around him, he abruptly stopped, causing her to let loose a very childish whine.
"I think someone enjoyed that," he whispered against her cheek.
"I think someone had better finish what he started," she whispered back. "Unless of course that same someone wants to deal with a very disgruntled PA…"
She turned her head to catch his lips while tugging at his boxers, eventually pushing them to his knees with her toes.
"Such impatience…" he laughed as he situated himself between her legs. "That is so sexy…"
She smiled as she leaned back, her head resting against the cupboard above her. "Well if you really want to go slower…"
"I never said that," he pulled her back to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Kissing her again, he carefully placed himself at her opening. She moved forward slightly, angling her hips to give him better access. As he pushed slowly into her for the first time, they both moaned at the sensation.
He rested his head on her shoulder as he gripped the back of her hips.
"Oh… this isn't going to last long," he sighed. "But next time… next time's gonna be something."
"Next time we really are staying in bed…" she whispered against his ear.
He breathed out heavily as he began moving, slowly at first, but then picking up pace as Pepper let loose sharp little gasps in time with his rhythm. As her legs started to shake, he pressed forward harder and faster until he fell forward, his hands supporting his weight on the countertop beside her hips.
She let out one jagged breath as she released her hands from where her fingernails had left long dark pink streaks over the top of his shoulders. "You know, I think this time was something, too."
He smiled and laughed through his nose before resting his head against her shoulder again. "I'm thinking the bed would be a good idea about now. Maybe we could go for round two after a little nap."
"'Round two'?"
"Yeah… and round three, four, five… maybe six before we stop for lunch."
"A little ambitious, are we?"
"Of course."
She smiled at him, lazily running her fingers over the stubble that had started to grow outside his carefully manicured goatee. Perhaps… just perhaps she had been wrong about it being a mistake…
"Ahem…"
Tony and Pepper both jerked involuntarily as they tried to figure out where the noise had come from. She hid her face against his chest when she realized Rhodey was standing in the doorway.
Tony cleared his throat, trying to act nonchalant. "Hey… I guess you kinda caught us with… uh…"
"With your pants down?" Rhodey offered.
"Uh… yeah…"
Pepper silently giggled, attempting to cross her legs over Tony's butt.
Rhodey just laughed. "I'm getting invited to *this* wedding, right?"
Pepper signed for the twelve boxes that had just been delivered. She was curious because most components for Tony's projects were delivered directly to his shop. It was his normal courier, about the normal time for a delivery, but the delivery instructions specifically said to not deliver them to his shop.
It took her only five minutes to move them from the front foyer into the main room. She worked around them quietly for a few minutes before giving into her curiosity and opening the first box.
She shook her head, piecing through the contents. Smiling, she activated the intercom.
"Tony, when did you order these Christmas cards?"