Chapter 2
The soft glow of the arc reactor bathed her face, contorted with ecstasy, in pale light as she came with a breathy sigh of relief, fingers loosening their grip on Tony's ass when he joined her in post-coital bliss moments later. Heart still beating rapidly and overwhelmed with giddy delight, she giggled and pressed her face against his shoulder.
"Giggling? Must have been one Hell of an orgasm. What am I saying? It's my disco stick you just jived all over. Of course it was one Hell of an orgasm."
She paused for half a heartbeat. "I was having twelve percent of an orgasm."
His expression flattened. "I'm never living that down."
"No."
"If that was only twelve percent of an orgasm, pigs must envy you."
A perturbed grumble escaped followed by her shoving to inspire him to move. "Rude. Mentioning pigs in the same context as your naked girlfriend is a good way to get kicked out of bed. You don't hear me talking about chickens in the same context as your pasty legs, do you?"
"What are you talking about, Woman? You love my legs."
"I love your legs," she confirmed, "because they're attached to your hips, which are attached to your torso, which is attached to your neck, which is attached to your head." By the time she made it to his lips, she was brushing hers against his.
"Damn my refractory period," he muttered against her mouth. "I bet Captain Calisthenics doesn't have to worry about pesky things like whether or not his di…"
Pepper cut him off. "Are you really going to be envious of Captain Rogers now? Personally, I have no interest in finding out whose refractory period is shorter. That would require me caring about his sexuality."
"This is not jealousy. Captain Calisthenics has nothing I should be envious of."
"You're right." Unfortunately, she had a feeling he wasn't pointing out how little he envied the captain because he believed what he was saying. Trying to hash it out with him would be pointless, though. Tony was one of those men who needed to figure things out on his own, so she could reassure him until she was blue in the face without him fully grasping the concept.
He gave her a last, lingering kiss before rolling out of bed and padding into the bathroom to take care of personal needs. "How did the conference in Seattle go?" His voice drifted through the open bathroom door.
"Everything went smoothly. Since I was already there, I held a brief meeting with the CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc, who's interested in a reactor for several of his production companies. What's the deal with you interrupting Stephanie's first face to face?"
"I had to make sure she'd be a good fit for you. Human resources can get it wrong more commonly than they get it right." Moments later, Tony padded back into the bedroom with a toothbrush in hand.
"Because you know how much I love it when you take control like that." Her tone existed in the borderland between amused and annoyed. "You just wanted to be certain my assistant wasn't an attractive man."
"It wouldn't be the first time a CEO of Stark International…"
"Industries," she corrected.
"…fell for an attractive assistant. Precedence, Miss Potts."
"It never occurred to you I might find Stephanie attractive?"
A tiny smirk played at his lips as his eyes unfocused and gazed off into what she assumed was some fantasy land in which Stephanie and she sandwiched him in carnal bliss. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
Laughing, she grabbed the pillow, encased in a pewter-colored pillowcase, and hurled it across the room at him. "If I do find Stephanie attractive, and she is pleasantly inclined toward the idea of hanky panky in the board room, I certainly won't be inviting you."
"You don't play fair, Miss Potts."
"Life isn't fair, Mister Stark. If you win more than you lose, you're ahead of the learning curve, so be grateful for what you have."
His expression turned serious, and he paused before continuing. "I am. Grateful, that is. You know, for this." He gestured in her vague direction and then back in his. "For us." And because Tony Stark couldn't be comfortable with the normal emotional spectrum, he stuffed his toothbrush in his mouth and began furiously scrubbing his pearly whites.
"I'm grateful too."
Doing a complete one-eighty in terms of conversation was a particular talent of his, so he mumbled something around the toothbrush and paste in his mouth.
Because she'd spent so long with him, she knew he was asking about Grey, so she shrugged, rolling onto her side and tucking her hand beneath her cheek to prop herself up. "He's pushy and thinks entirely too much of himself. Actually, he's here in New York now, so you may have a chance to meet him."
Their conversation didn't resume until after Tony had emptied his mouth and returned wearing pajama bottoms and his most comfortable Black Sabbath t-shirt, at which point, he said "Do you think the contract will be good for Stark?"
"The fundamentals of the companies under the umbrella of Grey Enterprises look good on the surface, but when you dig beneath, you can see mismanagement beginning to affect his empire The man purchased a floundering publishing company recently for no better reason than because his then-girlfriend worked there. These aren't the actions of a man interested in building a solid base for his corporation."
A rather odd grin curved Tony's lips. "Can I purchase the company where you work… Oh wait, I already own the controlling interest."
More laughter was forthcoming. "At any rate, I'm not entirely certain I want Stark's name tied with a company that may teeter on the edge of going under in the future because of mismanagement."
"That's the most beautiful sight I've seen in a long time," he murmured in another abrupt change of subject. There was something soft about his smile while looking at her.
Somehow, the compliment made her equal parts delighted and awkward, and she ended up rolling onto her back to give him a better view. A teasing smile accompanied her hand gliding down the soft plane of her belly in the direction of her feminine flesh. One of his kinks seemed to be enjoying watching her masturbate.
"Who needs sleep when they have that waiting for them in bed?" asked Tony, his eyes riveted on the progress of her fingertips.
"Sir, a private courier is attempting to make a delivery to Miss Potts in the lobby," Jarvis suddenly interrupted in his cultured British accent.
"Bad timing, Jarvis," Tony muttered. "Were you expecting something important? I don't suppose we can let Security accept delivery and get to it in the morning?"
The disappointment and dread in his tone almost made her chuckle, but she flung her legs over the side of the bed anyway. "Sorry. I am expecting some important documents to be delivered tonight. They have to be checked and signed for my meeting in the morning."
"I knew I was going to regret making you CEO of my company."
"Technically, isn't it my company now?"
"Nope. Controlling interest, remember?"
"Clearly, I'm going to have to talk you into strip poker one night," she quipped, humor animating her expression.
"Good idea. Come back in a hurry, Miss Potts."
"Twelve percent of a hurry?"
Dressing while tossing jabs back and forth with her boyfriend was difficult, but she managed the feat and hopped an elevator down to the ground floor where a private courier was waiting for her to sign for the package being delivered. There was no way it contained the documents she'd been waiting for; it was too large, so she waited until returning to the penthouse apartment she shared with Tony while they were in New York to open it.
A card tucked beneath the pretty bow read "Why didn't you tell me there was danger? Why didn't you warn me? Ladies know what to guard against, because they read novels that tell them of these tricks." It was signed simply with "G." First editions of Tess of the D'ubervilles were nestled amidst archival paper.
Who would send her such an odd gift? Why would they highlight that particular quote? Tess, in a great deal of distress, had pleaded with her mother, demanding to know why she hadn't been warned about the dangers of men and their manipulation. There was a message attempting to be sent her way by selecting those particular passages by whomever "G" represented.
One name sharpened into pristine clarity.
"You're into buying rare books in fair condition these days?" Tony asked while trotting down out of the raised kitchen with a glass of juice for her.
"No," she responded. "I think Christian Grey is sending me expensive presents."
Sending a gift to a businesswoman who'd taken time out of her busy schedule to meet personally was a common enough practice, but the package felt more personal. The three volumes weren't exorbitantly expensive, but their value was such as to make them inappropriate under the circumstances. Compounded with him lurking on the street corner yesterday afternoon, and Pepper felt her Spidey senses tingling. Dinner with Peter and Mary Jane last week meant that particular term was her new favorite.
No more than fifteen seconds were required for her to decide the gift should be returned to sender. Immediately. Accepting them wasn't a hornet's nest she needed right now. A sticky note affixed to the box left instructions for Stephanie to have the package returned via a private courier when she dropped it off on her assistant's desk. She stepped into her office to begin a long day of meetings with zoning officers.
A sharp gasp whistled on the inhale and was accompanied by her heart rocketing into her throat when she found Mister Grey reclining in her chair behind her desk in her office like he owned the place. Clearly, the man hadn't seen the giant "Stark" sign on the side of the building. No, actually Tony had failed to replace the rest of the sign following the Chitauri invasion, so the only thing left was a giant "A." Something about hoping to coerce the other Avengers into moving in which would make the "A" stand for "Avengers."
"Hello, Miss Potts. I trust you're enjoying my gift," he commented in that dark-chocolate-and-raspberry-and-mousse-and-key-lime-pie-and-caramel voice.
"What are you doing in here?" Her tone was breathless from the startle she'd received.
"I came to discuss our contract of course. There are some papers I'll need you to look over and understand before signing."
"We don't have a meeting on the books, Mister Grey. I need you to leave and contact me through official channels rather than breaking into my office."
"Official channels, Virginia? Must we be constrained by official channels? I was in the neighborhood and decided this would be quicker than having my secretary contact your secretary…"
"Personal assistant," she corrected.
"….to schedule a meeting." Christian rolled gracefully to his feet and stalked in her direction with a manila envelope in hand.
"Don't call me 'Virginia,'" she requested. Only her grandmother had called her that, and thinking about her grandmother was still bittersweet. "Fine. I'll look at your papers if you'll promise never to sneak into my office again."
The man seemed taken aback momentarily, lips hardening and expression pinching tighter as though trying to figure something out before extending the envelope toward her. "Look the contract over, and email me when you've decided to sign."
"If I've decided to sign," she corrected again. And that was a very big "if." Those heebie jeebies Grey gave her were turning into a full blown case of "Oh Hell Fuck No!"
The tension in the air popped like a bursting bubble when her cell chimed unexpectedly, causing a wince. She'd hoped to have the matter resolved before Jarvis alerted Tony. No such luck. "Hi, Tony. Can't bear to be separated from me for longer than half an hour before you start buzzing me?" She turned away from her uninvited guest.
"Jarvis said you have an unexpected visitor. Do you need the suit?"
"Honey, I adore Jarvis, but he's not allowed to spy on me twenty-four seven."
"What's wrong?" He sounded serious now.
"Why would you think something's wrong?"
"Maybe because it required a douche bag standing in your office before you'd call me a pet name? I'll be down in ten."
"That's not necessary. I can handle things on my own." Which was the truth. She didn't need Tony Stark to play white knight and counteract Christian Grey's dark knight. No, that was a bad comparison. Christian Grey wasn't any kind of knight. He was a creeper.
Ending the call, she turned back to face the man, taking note of the thin line of his lips and the deepness of the grooves framing his eyes. The creeper was furious. There was no mistaking the emotion rolling off him as anything else.
"Honey? Who were you talking to, Virginia Pepper Potts?"
"Um… How about none of your business? And I'm not going to ask you again to stop calling me 'Virginia.' You may refer to me as Miss Potts."
"You will tell me who was on the other end of the phone, or I will hack your phone's database and find out for myself. I don't like you talking to other men. It will stop now."
"Okay then. Mister Grey, I'd like you to leave my office now and forget you ever spoke to me. Stark Industries doesn't find Grey Holdings Enterprises-your company name sucks and causes the tongue to trip over it, by the way-a good fit for our line of self-sustaining reactors. Please leave."
His nostrils flared, head tilting back as though looking down the length of his nose at her. The look of supreme annoyance, however, began smoothing no sooner than they arrived, and he seemed much more in control when he said, "Very well. I can see you need some space to think more clearly about how our relationship will proceed. Look over the contract. When you're ready to sign, do let me know."
"You'll be waiting an awfully long time. Good day, Mister Grey."
Thankfully, the man left without further incident, and all it took was a call down to the security desk to instruct their lead security officer, a Mister Richard Kensey, not to allow Christian past the security desk any longer, and she was secure in the knowledge her brief episode with Creepy McCreeper wouldn't be repeated.
A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read my little bit of fluff. More to come soon. In the next chapter, Tony decides Mister Grey is a douche-nozzle, and Pepper winds up in a disturbing email conversation.