That's it for this week.

Warning: Sexy scene at the end.


Ammor magnus doctor est.

Translation: Love is a great teacher

They both stared into the shadowy darkness of the trees surrounding the meadow.

Tony called out, "Who goes there? State your business!"

She felt her heart race as five men stepped out of the shadows. From their rough clothing and unkempt appearance, she knew they were brigands or robbers.

The biggest one, Pepper named him Toothful because he had protruding teeth, stepped forward. He had a large axe in his hand and he raised it at Tony.

"Well, well, look what we have here... two faggots in the moonlight, making out far away from home."

His men snickered and Pepper felt Tony tense. They hadn't realized she was a woman because she was wearing Tony's clothes. He subtly pushed her behind him. "We have no quarrel with you, my man. Kindly be on your way."

Toothful laughed loudly. "What manners! Well, we do have something to quarrel about, because you have something I want... your horse! Give it to us quietly and easily!"

Before Tony could reply, one of Toothful's minions, Snotty (continuous sniffling and snorting) pointed at Pepper in wonder. "Cor, blimey... she's a girlie, she is..."

Pepper swore silently as the moon was now high in the sky and they could clearly see her face. The robbers leered at her and Tony whispered urgently, "Pepper, don't look at me but do as I say. Get on Balthazar suddenly and quickly, when I say so."

She held herself still and tense, poised on the balls of her feet. Toothful pointed a long finger at her and said wickedly, "Yes, a woman... and a pretty fine one at that. We will be taking her as well... Come here, girlie..."

He stepped forward, pulling out a coil of rope from his belt. The others began to move forward as well and Tony yelled, "Pepper, now!"

She quickly mounted Balthazar, expecting Tony to climb up after her. Instead he yelled at Balthazar, "Home! NOW!"

Before Pepper could react, the great horse turned and galloped away from the meadow. Pepper looked back in shock, to see Tony unsheathing his sword and the robbers charging towards him.

What! Wait! I cannot just leave him to them! There are five of them!

She tightened her hands on the reins and tried to turn Balthazar, who just didn't budge from his path. They were some distance away and she knew she had to stop him now or they would be too far away.

Pepper bent over the saddle and softly told Balthazar, "We need to save Tony, we can't just leave him. Come on Balthazar, we need to go back." She pulled on the reins and tried to turn the horse and this time he listened to her.

Pepper urged him into a gallop. "Faster, faster! Come on Balthazar!"

They were reaching the meadow when she realised something. "Crap! I do not have my sword with me! Shit!"

As she saw Tony face down four opponents, one of them lunging wildly towards him, Pepper saw the fifth robber creep around Tony, no doubt trying to hit him from behind. Rage filled her and she charged straight towards the outermost robber.

He cried out at Balthazar bearing down at him and jumped quickly out of the way. She stopped Balthazar and as the man stood up and raised his sword, she made the horse rear up and strike at him with his powerful foreleg.

The man got hit squarely in the chest and collapsed to the ground. Pepper dismounted and picked up his sword. Then she climbed back up on Balthazar and headed towards Tony.

"Tony! Move!" She yelled and he moved out of the way as she charged once again into the thick clump of men, scattering them like leaves.

She separated three of them from the leader. The Leader for Tony, three for me.

On horseback, Pepper raised her sword and swung down heavily on one robber, who raised his wooden shield just in time. The blunt force of the sword made him buckle under the shield and she struck again. This time the shield broke and the robber scrambled away and ran for his life.

The other one shakily stood his ground and Pepper dismounted. She waited for him to strike wildly and then tripped him up. As he lay on the ground, she punched him angrily in the nose. He yowled in pain as blood spurted from his nose and she said threateningly "Walk away now or never walk again... your choice!"

She raised her sword and he stumbled to his feet and ran away, clutching his bleeding nose.

Balthazar whinnied loudly and Pepper turned to see that one of the robbers was trying to ride him. As she ran back to the horse, the man had climbed up into the saddle but Balthazar was having none of it.

He tossed his mane and bucked forward with force, throwing the man off. Pepper laughed and the great horse snorted and tried to step on the man who rolled, screaming, out of the horse's way.

He ran off as well and Pepper nuzzled Balthazar as the horse came towards her. "Good boy..." she murmured. "Wait ...Tony?"

Tony had killed Toothful and was wiping his blade on the grass. Pepper walked towards him tentatively because he seemed tense, even though all the robbers had gone.

"Tony, are you alright?"

He stood and she gulped at the angry scowl on his face.

"Pepper Potts, you deliberately disobeyed me! I told you to go home on Balthazar! Yet you came back!"

She was angry now and yelled back, "Tony! What do you take me for! How could I leave you and go! There were five of them!"

"You didn't have a sword, woman!"

"Well, I think I handled them pretty well on my own! Using Balthazar! Nothing would have happened to him! I wouldn't have let them take him!"

He actually growled at her, low in his throat. "It was not him I was worried about, you little fool!"

Tony startled her by suddenly pulling her into his arms with force and kissing her roughly. She remained stiff with shock for a moment and then broke off the kiss, exclaiming "Tony!"

He didn't let go of her and looked at her angrily, his eyes dark and stormy. There was a tic in his jaw and he muttered roughly, "Damn it Pepper! Suppose they had taken you... I was trying to protect you."

"Tony..." she tried to calm him down. "We are a team, remember? We protect each other by having each other's back. If the situation was reversed, would you have left me with five of them?"

He shook his head roughly. She caught his jaw and shook him slightly. "Tony, it is alright. We are both safe now. Balthazar is safe."

Before he could reply, a loud crack was heard from the sky. Tony swore violently as it began to rain. Pepper took his hand and dragged him towards one of the large shady trees. "This way! We can take cover!"

They ran towards the tree, just as another loud crack was heard and it began to rain even more heavily. They reached the tree just in time. Pepper was dry but Tony''s hair was wet and he shook it like a dog.

They watched the rain pour down on the meadow. Tony had remembered to pick up the lantern, so they had a dim yellow light. Balthazar was standing under another tree, grazing lazily.

Tony took off his coat and offered it to Pepper. She shook her head saying, "I do not need it...I'm not wet." Then she tsked at him. "Your hair is wet, Tony! Come here."

He bent his head towards her and she used her kerchief to towel off his hair. As she passed her fingers through his soft damp hair, Pepper felt her heart start to thump, in the way it always did, when she and Tony were making out.

She finished, he straightened and they looked back out at the rain. Tony musingly said, "We can't ride back to the Keep in this downpour. Nothing to do but wait it out."

She moistened her lips. Suddenly the urge to touch Tony, was making her palms itch. They had not been able to touch each other or be alone the whole day. His rough kiss before, had only inflamed her libido.

She gently pushed Tony back against the trunk of the tree and stood close to him. He raised his eyebrows at her and asked slowly, "Pepper, what are you doing?"

She whispered slowly, dragging her tongue across her lip. "If I recall, there was some talk of ravishing..."

Tony''s gaze turned dark as he followed the movement of her tongue. He swallowed hard and she pressed herself to him firmly, from head to toe.

The feel of his hard warm body against hers, especially the way his chest pressed against her breasts, made them both groan. He just looked at her, transfixed.

"Ravishment.. now .." he asked blankly and she rubbed herself against him again, this time entwining her arms around his neck.

"Yes my lord...now...I can't control myself anymore. I need to touch you..."

She did not know what had come over her but she just wanted to touch him.

So Pepper placed her hand on his chest and very slowly, unbuttoned his shirt. He watched her as she opened five buttons and slid her hand inside the shirt.

She smiled widely at the feel of hard, warm male flesh that flexed under her fingers. Tony was holding himself beautifully still and she bit his neck lightly. He shuddered under her mouth and she whispered, "Do you like what I'm doing?"

He moaned out "Pepper..." and she bit him slightly harder. "That wasn't an answer."

He growled out, "Yes I do. I like it a lot."

Then Tony began to babble nonsense as she gently nipped his throat. She kissed her way up his throat, while her hands moved over his chest, learning the hard planes and firmness of his body.

"God, Tony, you are so damn ...firm..." she whispered against his jaw as she felt his flat, hard abdomen, the flesh rippling under her fingers.

Pepper began to kiss his jaw, knowing he was very sensitive there and pressed her breasts against his chest, feeling her nipples tighten excruciatingly.

She moaned at the sensation. Tony was breathing raggedly now. Pepper took his bottom lip between her teeth, nibbling on him. She could feel his erection poking into her stomach.

"Tony... Tony... Tony..." She whispered against his soft lips. "If your chest feels so hard, how hard does your member feel?"

She trailed her hand downwards, feeling the rough hair below his stomach and then Tony kissed her roughly and turned the tables of seduction.

She was so lost in his passionate kiss, that she didn't even notice that he had turned her and now, she was being pressed back into the tree. Tony took her hands and draped them around his neck.

His wicked hands meanwhile, were busy unbuttoning her shirt. He kept kissing her with rough small pecks, taking her lips and letting them go. She gasped as he finally opened her shirt completely and slid his broad callused hand inside.

Tony leaned back to watch her as she writhed against his moving hand, when it moved over her stomach and dipped a finger into her belly button.

He cupped her breasts in both hands and muttered darkly to her, "I think I like you in a shirt, sweetheart, because it is so easy to access your beautiful body."

Then he bent to take her nipple in his hot, moist mouth and she could do nothing but hold his head in place as he sensually tortured the Iittle nub with his lips.

He bit it gently and Pepper feverishly moved his head to her other breast, which was also desperate for his attention. She was mewling desperately now, eyes closed, seeing bursts of light under her eyelids.

Tony pinched her nipple and licked it with his rough tongue. She felt moisture pool between her legs and began to rock against him gently, opening her eyes.

He used his mouth to play with her breasts passionately, while his questing fingers moved over her stomach and her thighs. Then Tony leaned himself heavily against her, pressing his forehead to hers, looking deep into her eyes. His arms were braced on the trunk of the tree as he rubbed himself slowly against her. She moaned as his firm chest felt so deliciously warm and rough on her nipples. He kissed her ear and then took her ear lobe between his teeth and she arched into him, his flesh burning her with passion.

"Tony, Tony... please..." she could feel that familiar tightness between her legs and Pepper instinctively pressed herself against his erection. Tony stopped kissing her ear, to cup her cheeks between his hands and kiss her deeply.

As he kissed her, he passed his hands down her back and over her hips. With one hand, he raised her leg and broke off the kiss, to whisper urgently, "Loop it around my hip, sweetheart..".

He guided her leg as she obeyed him and Pepper gasped loudly as Tony's erection was now pressed very tightly against her weeping, core. Even though they were fully clothed below the waist, she could feel the entire throbbing, hard, thick length of him, burning her with warmth. He supported her leg around his hip.

Tony chuckled lightly at the dazed look on her face. "Sweeting, relax, relax, my love." She tried to and then Tony did something truly wondrous. He began to slowly rub himself against her, up and down and up and down. Pepper pushed her head back against the tree hard, the impact hurting her but she did not care.

"Good lord! Oh that feels so good!"

The clothes between them, just added to the delicious friction. She closed her eyes as he began to quicken his movements, grinding against her in short, hard thrusts. He buried his head in her neck, mouthing her flesh wetly and whispering her name raggedly. She was too lost in sensation, to do anything but feel.

The rain, the meadow, indeed the world around her, faded into oblivion as her heart continued to hammer in her chest and she felt the tightness become unbearable.

"Pepper, sweetheart, open your eyes."

She did so and stared transfixed, into Tony's almost black, wide eyes, looking at her with wonder. He whispered to her slowly, "Let yourself go! Let it all go..." Then he bit her neck and that did it for Pepper.

She felt the pressure break through her, like a dam being released and she wailed out his name, feeling moisture gush out between her legs. Pepper saw stars and rainbows, her eyes unfocused, staring blankly upwards at the tree's leafy canopy.

She was dimly aware of Tony cradling her against him, lowering her leg gently. As she came down from her high, he kissed her quickly and stepped away to move somewhere behind the tree. She was too limp to follow him. Then she heard Tony groan loudly, "Yes! YES!"

Pepper moved her mouth to call out shakily, "Tony? Tony, what are you doing?"

He came back to her, tucking his shirt into his trousers. She flushed as she realized what he had done.

Tony grinned at her and cuddled her to his body, kissing her forehead. Pepper wrapped her arms around his chest and snuggled closer. The rain was still falling but with less intensity than before. She sighed deeply, feeling very relaxed and content. Tony seemed content too. He said gently, "Let us sit down."

They sat down, his back against the tree, she relaxing against him. Pepper nuzzled his neck and closed her eyes. Tony's warm, comforting embrace was a lovely cocoon for her. She heard him say softly, "Pepper, sweetheart... I am sorry for losing my temper before."

She sleepily said, "I won't leave you behind Tony, I just won't... I got you...". He must have replied but she was drifting into sweet slumber. Her last coherent thought was that she was not done ravishing the Iron Knight, not by a long shot.