The afternoon sun shone brightly on Natasha's pale legs as she dangled her feet in the shallows of a sparking ocean, the rays of light causing the movements of the lazy ripples to reflect the intensity of the blue sky. The water was fairly blue itself, clearer than any water should have been, causing the assassin to feel as though she could see into the secrets held in this tropical ocean. Her feet were submerged in rather warm water, but even if it had been chilled she wouldn't mind as colder temperatures had always drawn her in.
Her sunglasses cut off a good deal of the glare so she could see quite easily even if the sun was strong enough to cause skin damage to just about anyone. Quiet footsteps sounded along the sand behind her and a teasing smiled crossed her lips, aware that Tony was trying to sneak up on her and she shook her head, laughing quietly and wondering when he was going to learn it was impossible.
"Come on Stark, you thump around worse than the lightening man himself." She smiled, turning her head and seeing him mid step, his body hunched and a guilty look across his face –he was carrying a small bucket of ice. Natasha didn't even blink an eye, though her sunglasses would have hid such an action anyway.
"If you want to have sex with me ever again, I suggest you dispose of what you are holding." She said in a terrifyingly sweet tone, her lips pulling into a deceivingly innocent smile. In all her life, she had never seen anybody drop anything so fast. "There's a good boy." She murmured, her smile turning softer and she actually looked quite happy.
Tony kicked away the bucket of ice and grumbled something under his breath as he moved to sit beside her, yawning and stretching out his arms before falling back on the sand. He rested his calloused hands behind his head and screwed up his face at the sun even though he had dark shades on.
Natasha bit her lip at the sight of Tony in nothing but swimming shorts, (with Iron Man symbols, of all the designs he could have chosen but to be fair she had got a good laugh out of it) her eyes flicking right down from his bare feet and up along his wonderfully toned chest, to the arms sporting larger biceps than she was used to seeing on him. As her astute eyes moved to his face she could tell he was looking at her and there was a smirk across his lips, both eyebrows arching.
"Agent Romanoff, I do believe you are checking me out." Tony was a vain man and still seemed quite pleased. She had to smile, bearing her pearly whites down at him. Natasha hadn't smiled so much in a very long time, it actually felt strange to be so happy, so content. She wasn't quite at peace, but it felt good to trust someone so completely.
"Well Mr Stark," The assassin trailed a gently hand up his chest, her fingers circling the edge of the reactor which was somehow brighter than the sun. "Can you blame me?" She leaned down to press a gentle kiss to his lips, cupping his cheek as she did so. Her hands had been good for nothing but blatant seduction and killing before she fell for Tony. Now they held a gentle touch and it meant a lot to her that he could allow her touch because he damn well knew what she was capable of.
"You know I don't 'thump' around." He murmured with a playful pout as she sat back up again, "You just have freakishly amazing hearing." As she removed her hand from his cheek he pressed his palm to her own, smiling up at her in a way that was nothing like his usual smirk. He had confessed his love to her the moment she said it first, which had relieved the rushed feeling of anxiety that shot through her after such an admission. The 'I love you' sex had been incredible, seemingly endless. It had been neither sweet nor rough, but a perfect balance somewhere in between.
"Thank you for bringing me here." She murmured quietly and she saw his expression change to something softer than any of the other Avengers had seen on him.
"You are welcome." Tony gazed up at the love of his life, still unable to believe he had managed to get her. Not because he was completely lovesick but because Natasha Romanoff was a deadly assassin and if she were to settle she could probably do a lot better than him. Sure Tony had the money, the houses and cars, the looks, the incredible skills in bed, the fashion sense, the celebrity status, the newly appointed heroic air about him but… actually there was no but. Tony was pretty damn perfect in his own eyes and yet he still felt like Natasha could have done better.
She was a beautiful woman and held a mystery that he had never seen, not to that extent. Somehow she had managed to get the infamous Tony Stark to give his heart away and he could not believe he had hers in return. He felt as though it had always belonged to her and he even felt cheesy thinking it.
As the billionaire cupped her soft cheek, he couldn't help but marvel at her body. It had only been four days since she got out of the medial ward and she had built back all of her previous muscle tone. She was stunning, she had found that perfect state of lightly toned muscle, not too skinny and not resembling an Olympic body builder. Yet in that light muscle lay the ability to take down every body builder in the world at one. Oh she was fearsome and deadly and terrifying and Tony absolutely loved it.
She wore the bikini he brought her, she had no choice considering that everything they had brought with them in the private jet had been packed by Tony. Natasha had insisted to have at least one full day dedicated to training and during that time Tony had slipped out of the tower to purchase anything Natasha would need on the trip he had already been planning. He could have warned her, could have told her what to pack but there was something satisfying about supplying everything she would need. Natasha didn't need anybody to take care of her, or support her but this way Tony actually could.
Tony was well aware her intention was to train herself back up so she could throw herself into the field and before that happened, before Natasha's job took her away from him, Tony wanted some time for just the two of them.
He let out a sigh as his gaze travelled over her body, mentally noting that the light blue bikini he picked out had been a fantastic choice after all. He had purchased a selection, but as he viewed them in the stores they didn't seem right. He didn't think any of his choices would have been able to do her wondrous body justice and he had been right, but she was damn appealing in the designer two piece. He wanted to take her now, but she had made a clear rule about the sand and she would only have sex with him if she was on top. Which was normally fine in Tony's eyes except he didn't want sand in his ass either so for once he relented. But he would fuck her hard that night for sure.
He had snuck into her room just before midnight and shook her awake, she had wanted to sleep in her own bed after training with the Captain, apparently he hadn't held back and Natasha received a fair work out. After Clint had told Tony that Steve and Natasha were spending the day in the gym to spar, Tony had suddenly viewed the whole thing as intimate. He never had before, considering how many injuries Natasha usually gave –or got. But in his mind the hunk of a supersoldier was suddenly the sexy personal trainer to his assassin and just how many pornos began with that scenario? It was only out of sheer respect for Natasha being an independent woman that Tony didn't storm in there and make love to her in front of Steve just to clearly say mine.
Virtually kidnapping Natasha in the dead of night had been the only way to ensure they could actually have a holiday. If he gave her no warning then she would not be able to ask Fury for permission, she could claim innocence and Fury would always believe anyone over Tony, the two were hardly friends. He bundled her into his private jet, flown by a pilot Tony had paid good money to in exchange for secrecy on the trip. The plane had landed at the location, the many bags unpacked and then the plane left. It was a large island, surrounded by white beaches and filled with dense forestry, the only structure there at all was the beach house Tony had led Natasha to. The one situated behind them with three floors of wonderful luxury.
Tony had told her he was borrowing the house from a friend but he was lying through his teeth and if Natasha decided to dig deeper she would find a substantial amount of money had left his personal accounts in order to purchase a private island. The whole island. It was situated in a sort of group of large islands that all had the same design, white beaches, dense forestry and a huge house. The very rich and very famous were the only people who could buy such a thing. Tony had basically bought her a private island and he wanted to wave it in the faces of every guy who had ever bought Natasha anything.
He may have woken her up to bring her to the island, but she had become alert rather first and while he suggest a tour of the house when they first arrived, she just about tackled him onto the king sized bed. Incredible sex followed, then a light snooze, and then a breakfast of tropical fruits as Tony had made sure the fridge and cupboards were fully stocked. After that it was a few hours of lounging around on the sand and Tony adored every single second of it.
Neither of them were really touchy feely people, but being around Natasha so much, holding her and caressing her brought him a beautiful feeling and he could see that she enjoyed it too. He'd joked about stealing her away from the world and keeping her to himself, but he really did mean it. For a couple of weeks anyway.
He looked up to the beautiful Russian, seeing her eyes had taken on a far away look. She was thinking of SHIELD, or maybe of the people within SHIELD who had betrayed her. It had to be more than one, Tony had already figured that out.
"Right, come on." Tony launching into action, moving swiftly to his feet and taking to her hand to pull him up with her, placing a gentle kiss to her forehead that clearly said 'I'm taller than you'.
"What's happening?" She asked, eying Tony almost suspiciously. He loved that little look, the way her eyes darted across his face, studying him intently.
"Oh… nothing." Tony pretended to turn away as if to move back to the house but spun towards her quickly and dived to tackle her into the water. The stretch of sand they had been sitting on was actually a weirdly shaped natural sand bar that jutted out in line with the house as though it was some kind of perfectly placed dock made of sand. About fifteen people could fit on it side ways and it was about twice that in length, so the end of the sand bar jutted out to where the depth of the tropical water was well over Tony's head. And that was the exact part that he tackled her into, so he knew he wasn't going to smash her against a rock or any sharp coral.
He loved this woman in a way that he had not seen coming, as though it had built up slowly and gradually in secret and when the feeling became known it was too intense to make any sense. Tony Stark, a man who could have really any woman that he desired, had fallen for an assassin. He loved it, it was so completely unpoetic that it turned out to be poetry material. They were from completely different worlds, he was the one in the limelight, in the sun, in the full view of the public and she was the one to sneak around in darkness and ensure she wasn't seen.
She was good at that too, in a way that made Tony jump when she came into the room because he never heard her approaching.
So any moment that he could get one over her, any moment he could surprise her even a little was something he grabbed and took control of instantly. Tackling an assassin was perhaps one of the most dangerous things Tony had ever done but as a standard Tony lived a dangerous life.
He was laughing at the shocked expression that spread across her face as they landed in the water and the bubbles poured from his mouth in his laughter until they broke apart and swam up.
"Hey!" She yelled at him as she broke through the surface, her face angry but she was chuckling lightly against her will. She treaded water much more gracefully that him which couldn't be helped but still made him feel rather inadequate.
"I love you Tash." He pulled her close and held her to his chest, kissing her hard as they only used their legs to keep themselves afloat.
"I love you ." She murmured against his lips, speaking those words for only the second time and they still sounded just as sweet when they fell upon Tony's ears.
