Chapter Twenty-One

Tony couldn't stop touching Pepper. He just couldn't help himself. Even as he was watching closely to make sure that Hammer didn't move from his place on the floor, he was gripping Pepper tightly against him. Thanks to his armor, he was likely holding her a little bit too hard but she didn't complain in the slightest. In fact, even though there was no way it could be comfortable for her, she snuggled closely against him, holding onto him for dear life.

When they finally landed and were met by police who whisked Hammer and Everhart away after Tony convinced them he and Pepper needed to be seen at a hospital before giving their statements, he kept his arms around Pepper the entire time. Even after the media showed up like the vultures they were, he refused to let her go. Yes, he was acting needy and quite frankly he didn't give a damn. Let the world think Tony Stark was pussy whipped and clingy. He had almost lost the love of his life. He was never letting her go ever again.

As they were ushered into the ambulance, he kept a hand on her back, refusing to move away. He needed to get out his damn suit and wrap himself around her. More than anything he needed to feel the warmth of her skin against his. He needed it more than his lungs needed oxygen. As he was about to step out of his suit, he remembered he was only in his underwear and settled for leaving his helmet off and curling up against her in the back of the emergency vehicle.

Pepper had been dead. She had been dead in his arms. He had been so close to losing her for good. He whimpered quietly as he buried his nose into the exposed skin on her neck, seeking out her warmth, but it simply wasn't enough contact for him. He was close to removing his suit altogether because everyone on the planet had seen him with less clothes on anyway when Pepper sighed loudly into his hair, stilling him.

"Tony, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise," she whispered against his forehead as she traced the outline of his goatee with her fingertips. Her gentle voice and loving touch soothed his fears. She wasn't dead. She was with him. She was safe.

He shuddered under the feather light touch of her fingers moving over his face, his eyes rolling back into his head. God did he miss this. He missed just being in her presence. And her touch, her touch was comforting and even in the current situation they were in, arousing. Luckily for him, the suit hid this from sight otherwise things would have gotten a little awkward.

"I guess this seals the deal," Tony mumbled aloud, trying to start a conversation to take his attention off his growing arousal and focus it elsewhere, but Pepper's fingers curling into his hair did not help matters any. He shifted in her embrace trying to get comfortable but it only made things worse for him. Why didn't he think about having this problem when he designed the suit? Not that getting a hard-on was usually a problem when he was busy getting shot at and trying not to get blown up but still...

"And what would that be?" Pepper asked, playfully biting on her bottom lip as she looked up at him from under her lashes. From the naughty gleaming in her eyes, she knew damn well what she was doing to him and was taking pleasure in it.

Oh God. The things this woman did to him. He swallowed thickly, watching as the tip of her pink tongue darted out to lick her top lip. What had he been saying? That's right... "That I'm never volunteering to go to a meeting in your place ever again. In fact, I think this is a sign we should cancel all future meetings..." Yep. That did it. Talking about meetings helped killed the mood. Meetings. Meetings. Meetings. Extra long, extra boring meetings with old guys talking about extra boring things.

Pepper chuckled. He didn't know if she was laughing at what he had said or the fact he was turned on and she knew it. "Tony..."

"No meetings again. Ever. Meetings are clearly bad."

Pepper wrinkled her cute little nose up at him, pulling him in for a quick hug as the back doors of the ambulance opened, announcing their arrival at the hospital. "You're such a dork." As she slowly rose to her feet and untangled herself from his embrace, Tony felt teeth lightly graze his earlobe and he gasped. Just when he had finally gotten himself under control, she had to go and play dirty. "Is it getting a little pinchy in the gooey bag there, Mr. Stark?" From the expression on Pepper's face, she sure was proud of herself.

A playful growl escaped Tony's lips as he watched the EMTs help her out of the ambulance. "Oh, you are in so much trouble when I get you alone later, Ms. Potts."

By the time they had both been checked over and discharged from the hospital with clean bills of health, Happy had finally arrived to pick them up. Tony noticed that Pepper couldn't stop herself from smiling like a complete idiot when the large man refused to stop hugging him. She didn't try to help him at all. In fact, Tony could tell she was close to falling over from hysterics when Happy picked him up and swung him around as if he was a woman in a romance movie. By the time Happy finally released Tony and profusely apologized for his overreaction to seeing him alive, Pepper's face was as red as her hair from laughing, and she didn't stop until they were both sitting in the back of the car and were finally headed back home.

Happy had the divider up, giving them the privacy they needed after all the craziness that happened. Pepper was curled up on Tony's lap. The weight of her body grounded him in reality. The soft sound of her breathing was better than a lullaby. He was close to falling asleep when he felt her suddenly stir in his arms, moving to straddle his thighs. He could feel her hot breath next to his ear.

"Tony?"

Even though he wanted to respond to her, he was far too exhausted to open his eyes. At the moment, it felt as if his eyelids were weighted down by bricks. The adrenaline he had been running on since he had been taken by Hammer was finally waning. He was too tired to do much of anything so his reply was a barely audible, "Hmmm?" He was on the verge of slipping under when the next words finally came out of her mouth.

"I want us to get married. Now."

Her words were like a physical slap to his face. Tony's eyes flew open, and he stared at Pepper; eyes wide, mouth hanging open. He had been half asleep so he wasn't sure if she actually said what he thought she said or if he merely dreamt it. All he did know was that he was wide awake now. "Wait, what?"

Pepper gave him a warm smile as she reached out to grasp his chin, slowly closing his gaping mouth before rubbing her knuckles lovingly over his cheek. "That sure got your attention, didn't it? I said I want to marry you. I want to do it now."

Yep. He had heard correctly. Staring at the overwhelming amount of emotion reflected in Pepper's eyes, he swallowed thickly. His poor brain still couldn't comprehend what she was trying to say. They already were getting married. What did she mean? She had been busy planning the wedding for months, trying to make sure everything was perfect but she wanted to get married now? "Now? As in right now? Did that punch to your face knock something loose in your head?" The nasty look Pepper gave him made him clamp his mouth shut and rethink his approach. He wasn't trying to upset her."It's just that...honey...you spent so much time and energy planning the perfect wedding. You honestly just want to throw all that away and elope?"

He stopped talking when Pepper grabbed his face between her hands. "I just need you, Tony Stark. That's it. Nothing else matters to me. When I thought you were dead..." Her bottom lip began to quiver. Tears filled her eyes, and she broke eye contact.

God. More than anything did he hate seeing her cry. It hurt him more than getting shocked by Hammer's stupid e-cuffs. He reached out to swipe away the tears on her face before pulling her against his body, tucking her head securely underneath his chin. "Pep..."

"It almost killed me," she forced out. "It almost killed me to lose you." He could no longer see her face, just her beautiful red hair. "I just don't want any regrets. You know all of that fancy stuff is just for show. We can still have the big wedding with everyone but..."

"But you want to get hitched now?" Tony guessed.

He felt Pepper nod as her fingers curled into his shirt. "I don't want to wait to be Mrs. Virginia Stark anymore."

After her admission, Tony almost expected the sound of a record scratch to fill the air. He blinked down at her in surprise. Okay, he had been almost positive that he was awake but maybe he was wrong. Maybe he was dreaming. That would explain this. Maybe he was still back up on Hammer's aircraft handcuffed to the bed. That would be statistically more probable than what was currently happening. Pepper wanted to be a Stark? "Wait, you-you actually want to take my name? But I thought..."

When Pepper lifted her head from his chest, the tears were all gone from her eyes. There was nothing reflected in them but pure confidence as she kissed him into silence. He didn't object when her arms slipped around his shoulders, and she deepened the kiss. "I'm taking your name, Mr. Stark. It's my decision. I want everyone to know that I belong to you and you belong to me."

Holy shit did Tony love hearing her say that. It turned him on to have her say that they belonged to each other. He leaned forward to press his lips against her neck again and again. "Mmmm. You feeling a little possessive, Potts?"

He heard her hum in pleasure, tilting her head to the side to give him better access as he kissed her. "After what happened? Yes. Yes, I am. Can you honestly blame me? When I saw you handcuffed to the bed, I thought-I thought..."

Tony immediately felt her entire body stiffen up. He pulled back, watching as the wheels in her head spun into overdrive. He could only imagine what she thought had transpired between the two of them when she found him on the bed in only his underwear. He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Hey, nothing happened. I swear to you. You saved me."

Pepper was still thinking too hard. He could tell as she traced his lips. "Honestly, I kinda wish I had blasted her out of the plane. I would have liked to see her survive that. Maybe we would have gotten lucky and she would have gotten sucked into an engine."

His eyebrows climbed skyward. "Damn, Pepper. You are one feisty woman."

"When it comes to you, you better believe it. I had to fight for years to get you. I'm not losing you now." Her eyes stayed serious as he reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

This woman was fierce, and she was all his. "So we get married now."

Pepper leaned into his hand, the tension leaving her body. "Yes."

"And do we wait to announce it or can I shout it from the rooftops?"

Pepper smiled before giving him a peck on the lips. "We can discuss that."

Tony cleared his throat. "Well, before I tell Hogan to take us to the closest 24 hour chapel, why don't you buckle in just in case he decides to swerve off the road and hit someone?"

Pepper laughed as she removed herself from his lap. "Maybe ask him when he's sitting at a stop light."

"Actually, I'm kind of in the mood for a cheeseburger. I'll tell Hogan to take us by Burger King first," Tony said, waiting for Pepper's reaction to his statement as he watched her buckle herself in. He was rewarded when her head snapped up and she locked eyes with him. Oh yeah. There it was. He loved the way her blue eyes blazed when she was upset with him. He gave her one of his famous Stark grins. "Just kidding, Pep. Relax would ya? Oh! I have the best idea. How about we have Elvis marry us while I am in my Iron Man suit? What do you think?"

That earned him another look. "I think you better not push it, Mr. Stark."

"I wouldn't dream of it, soon-to-be Mrs. Stark."

Pepper beamed at him before resting her head on his shoulder. "You know, I think I can get used to that."