Hello, again! Hoping to get this fic done around Christmas time ( THIS, and "Remember Venice?", for that matter. Be expecting a pretty sizable upload happening in the near future on that one!) I had so much fun writing "A Very Pepperony Christmas" a couple of years ago, that it's hard to resist writing another Christmas-fic, you know? Hard to believe we're on the down hill slide to that time of year! Where does the time GO?!
Any way, thanks for hanging with me! And for all of your reviews! You guys are the best! Happy Reading!
For several minutes, they stayed intertwined, passionately devouring each other. Pepper moaned as Tony moved his lips from her mouth to her neck, where he traced feather-light kisses all the way down it, flicking his tongue playfully on her skin as he worked. He smiled to himself at the breathy sound of her voice.
"Mmmmmm, oh, yes," she purred, clearly enjoying what he was doing to her.
He decided to take a risk, and ran his hand down her body before moving it back up again, this time under her shirt. He slid it slowly up her bare skin, deliberately letting her know of his intentions, and almost reaching her breast, when suddenly, a bone-chilling yowl came from the porch, loud enough for the both of them to startle and immediately stop what they were doing.
Tony bolted upright, and Pepper followed, gasping.
"What was that?!" she said breathlessly, her eyes wide with panic.
He didn't answer right away, but narrowed his eyes as he watched the silhouette of a big cat pass by the window in the looming darkness.
"Looks like he's back," he muttered.
Pepper gasped again. "Oh my God!" she cried, and clambered to get off the couch. She swiveled around as she stood up, following Tony's gaze out the window with wide eyes.
Tony glanced at her, and then back at the window again. He slowly stood up, and backed to where Pepper was standing. He stood in front of her protectively, again.
"I told you he'd..." Pepper started to say, in a hushed, panicked whisper, but Tony shushed her, holding one finger to his lips.
"Don't. Make. A sound," he said, mouthing the instructions.
Pepper nodded in understanding, and Tony nodded back. He motioned for her to get down, stay where she was, and that he was going to make his way to the door. He'd left the shotgun propped against the door frame, and he wanted to be armed and ready in case it got impatient, and decided to try to break in.
They both slowly crouched to the floor. And then Tony moved to his stomach, eyeing the mountain lion outside the whole time, who was now pacing back and forth on the porch menacingly.
Pepper watched as Tony army-crawled around the coffee table and the sofa, and disappeared out of sight, heading toward the front door. She slowly raised her head to see him, and all she could spot was him crouched against the back the of the front door, reaching for the gun. Once he had it in hand, she saw him go back to his stomach, and soon he crawled back to where she was crouched in front of the fire place.
"Pepper, I want you to get to the front-facing bedroom," he whispered.
She shook her head. "No, Tony! What if something happens? What if he gets inside? I won't leave you to fight him alone," she argued.
"I know. But don't worry. Just listen to me," he urged. "Check the nightstand. You'll see an old digital alarm clock inside. When you find it, let me know. I'll come back there, and keep you covered. We're going to crack open one of the windows just wide enough to stand that clock up in it. Then..."
Pepper nodded, understanding his plan. "Turn on the radio," she finished.
Tony smiled knowingly, and nodded. "That's right. And crank it up. It needs to be full blast. Hopefully, that will be loud enough to scare him away."
Pepper's chest heaved a couple of times as she glanced between him and the hallway. "Okay," she murmured finally. "I'll try to hurry."
Staying crouched, she moved away from Tony. They turned their backs toward each other, he moving to the end of the hallway with her, gun raised, until she safely made it out of the eye line of the animal, and down the hall. Then he crouched around the corner, keeping his eye down the barrel, and the barrel trained on the back of the beast, as Pepper went the rest of the way.
The mountain lion was none the wiser. It just continued to pace, emitting a low, rumbly growl as it prowled back and forth.
"I got it!" Tony soon heard Pepper whisper to him from the doorway of the bedroom. Tony slowly stood, and backed away from the doorway leading from the living room, and down the dark hallway, to join Pepper in the darkened bedroom.
He found her crouched down near the front-window, as asked, with the alarm clock plugged in, the face flashing "12:00", and the red glow from the display illuminating Pepper's face. She had the radio switched on, and was turning the dial, trying to find the signal of a radio station. But she wasn't having much luck.
"Damn it!" she murmured in a huff. "All I'm getting is static!"
"That might work," Tony said, shrugging.
Pepper stopped what she was doing, and looked at him skeptically. "I was hoping for a little better than might, Tony!" she replied.
"Here, gimme," Tony said, laying the gun against the bed, and holding out his hand. "We might have better luck finding an AM frequency."
Pepper handed it over, and he switched it to AM, and then fiddled with the dial. Soon, he stumbled upon a radio's station frequency. It wasn't the clearest reception, but it would work. "Bingo," he muttered.
He cranked the volume dial as far as it would go. It was blaring "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree", and Pepper quickly covered her ears, wincing at the shrill assault of the decibel level. Tony crouched beneath the window, but reached up to slowly slide the window open, just wide enough to prop the radio up on the sill on its side as he'd planned. He quickly popped his head up to spot where the cat was. As he did so, Pepper, still with her fingers in her ears, took position next to him, and looked out the window as well. Suddenly, a loud, and very annoyed-sounding shriek came from the cat, and Pepper gasped, recoiling. But then the animal bolted from the porch, as a result of it being startled, and ran a distance away from the cabin before it turned back to be sure it was clear of the threat. Tony watched as it huffed in defeat, and sauntered back into the trees.
He turned to Pepper, and grinned triumphantly. Then he took the radio out of the window, and slammed it shut before he turned the radio off. Pepper's eyes went wide, as she removed her fingers from her ears. "Did it work? Is it gone?" she asked hopefully.
"Us, two. Mr. Mountain Lion? Zip," Tony clucked cockily, with a smirk.
Pepper gasped and beamed, and threw her arms around Tony's neck. "Oh, thank God!" she cried in great relief. Tony wrapped his arms around her, and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
"It's okay, Pep," he murmured.
Pepper pulled back, still visibly shaken from the experience, but trying to put on a brave face. Tony studied her face, and then cupped her cheek. "Pepper?" he asked, looking into her eyes, with concern.
"W-what?" she stammered, trying to calm down.
Seeing she was still greatly disturbed, he opted to take measures to help get her mind off of it. He flashed her a wide grin, but then feigned seriousness. He then grasped her hands and brought them to his chest in his. Pepper watched in silence, and then gave him a look of curiosity. "You know," he said, looking deeply into her eyes. "I've always fantasized about getting you alone in the bedroom, but this..."
Pepper promptly released one of her hands from his grasp to smack him on the shoulder in reply. He flinched. "Ow!" he whimpered, but chuckled in amusement as he saw her start to relax. She smiled back, rolling her eyes and shaking her head at his remark. But none-the-less, she found she wasn't afraid anymore. And she was very grateful for it.
"You're not funny," she replied, giving him a wry smirk.
Tony shrugged. "Okay, I'm not funny," he said. Then he looked at her intently. "But you do feel better now, though, right? Now that my gallant act of heroism chased the big bad cat away?" he asked knowingly.
Pepper sighed. "Yes. You're my hero, Tony Stark. Happy?" she quipped back.
Tony smirked, and then used the tips of his fingers to brush her hair behind her ears before cupping her face in his hands. "Not quite," he cooed, before he brought his lips to hers and kissed her soundly.
Pepper melted into the kiss, not being able to help a breathy moan that escaped her lips. Tony moaned back, and then slowly broke the kiss to gaze into her eyes. "Now, I'm happy. I had to claim my reward, after all," he explained.
"Me? I'm your reward?" Pepper asked, looking at him skeptically.
Tony teeter-tottered his head from side to side. "In...so many words." He could sense her disapproval. "Okay, hold on, I...uh...I think maybe I should rephrase that statement..." he stammered.
"Oh. I would," Pepper huffed, trying her best to give him a disgruntled glower, but secretly she was very amused by him verbally tripping over himself.
Tony gave her a sheepish grin. "What I meant to say was, I think we make a pretty good team," he explained. "Wouldn't you say, Pep?" he asked, hoping she'd accept his recanting.
Pepper softened. "We make a darn good team," she replied resolutely. "And nice save, by the way,"she teased.
Tony chuckled. "See? Like I said. That's why I need you in my life," he told her. "To keep me in line."
"You're forgetting. I already do that. On a daily basis," Pepper retorted. "In fact, that's what you pay me to do, Mr. Stark," she teased.
Tony pretended to be deeply considering her words, while simultaneously rocking the both of them backwards so that she was once again on her back, and under him. And Pepper happily let him. "Uh huh. And you know what, Ms. Potts? It's come to my attention that we need to..." he said, clearing his throat. " 'Expand' those duties to include some more personal, possibly even sexual..."
"Watch it," Pepper joked, with her finger pointed at his chest in warning.
Tony just pumped his eyebrows playfully, and bent to continue where he'd left off on her neck. Pepper inhaled deeply. "Discussion...to be...continued," she moaned, before the ability to form words left her completely, and she was once again rendered helpless against his advances. They continued on the bedroom floor this way for a few minutes. But sadly, the moment was once again interrupted, as Pepper's forehead began to throb.
She abruptly broke their kiss, and inhaled sharply through her teeth, wincing. Tony looked at her in concern. "Pep? You okay?" he asked.
"I just...I think I need to take it easy," she answered, giving him a reluctant grimace at having to end their make out session once again.
Tony nodded. "Got it," he said, climbing off of her, and standing up. He offered her a hand, and she accepted. He slowly pulled her up off the floor, and gave her a concerned once over, his brow furrowed with worry.
Pepper gave him a gentle, reassuring smile. "I'll be fine, Tony," she said. "I just need to relax for a little while, I think."
"I'm just sorry you're in pain again, that's all," he admitted. He wrapped her in his arms, and bent to peck her lips. Pulling her close, he gazed lovingly into her eyes. "But all is not lost for us, Pep," he said.
Pepper looked at him curiously. "Oh?" she asked. "What did you have in mind?"
Tony gave her a mischievous smirk. "What say you to maybe...continuing our plan for the evening? I restoke the fire? We go back to cozying up on the couch under the blanket together?" he cooed. "You have to admit, it was feeling pretty good before we got so rudely interrupted."
"It was. And I'd agree, that sounds perfect," Pepper purred back.
Tony grinned in approval. "And you know what they say," he began, his voice a low suggestive rumble. He was trying his best to give her a smolder, but this only made Pepper giggle. "The best way to maintain body heat is if you can snuggle up with another person."
"Really. How convenient," Pepper replied, looking at him with a wry smile. "And they? Who's they, might I ask?"
"The...people who study this type of thing. Scientists. Very important scientists who study the effects of body heat on people who are..." he cleared his throat awkwardly, and continued. "Hot for each other. Incidentally, most of their studies are performed with their test subjects fully in the nude."
"Uh-huh," Pepper replied, trying not to giggle. It would only encourage him, she thought, in her amusement.
"Yep. Can't argue with science, Pep. Naked people conduct heat better than clothed people, while under a blanket, and possibly making out, in front of a fire, in a cabin, in the woods, in the middle of..." Tony yammered.
Pepper couldn't help herself this time. She laughed out loud, and Tony chuckled at her laughing at him. "Okay, that's enough of that," she said. She shook her head, and grinned before going in for another soft kiss. Tony kissed her back. "Now come on, you," she said, pulling him by the hand out of the bedroom and down the hallway toward the living room. Tony just grinned to himself at being able to keep her spirits high. But also, he was delighted at getting the chance back to have her in his arms again. He was thrilled that he even found himself wanting to do this with a woman. Typically, he was all about getting straight to business. Funny what being with the right girl will do, he thought to himself, and he grinned even more.