A/N: This is an abrupt pickup from the previous chapter. If you want to go back and read the last couple of lines to refresh your memory, that'd be alright since it's been awhile since we updated. However, I trust that no one will be disappointed…and that's what I expect to hear back. :)


Pepper grabs the diaper bag and follows Tony up the stairs to the living quarters. "Will you put Aaron down? I want to check the network to see if anything urgent has come in while we were gone. If not, I can rearrange your schedule for a late start tomorrow."

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Tony smiles before disappearing into the nursery, which leaves Pepper free to duck into the master bedroom where she promptly stalls out. There's a lot going through her head right now, and very little of it is coherent. However, on the other hand, most of it is generally optimistic.

"Okay," she murmurs to herself under her breath, attempting to prioritize. "Jarvis, how many items on Tony's schedule for tomorrow are level three and above?" She had a seven point scale for the kinds of meetings, appointments, and events that Tony needed to attend during the course of his days. Level seven contained the kinds of meetings Tony had been talking about – things that he could either attend in person, or save time by getting the information by way of typed brief at a later date. Level threes were meetings with the heads of his departments, and levels two and one were with the Board of Directors and an irate Board of Directors respectively.

"Mr. Stark has already attended all of this month's divisional meetings," Jarvis reports as Pepper starts unbuttoning her slacks. She looks down at her feet, debating whether or not to leave her socks on. "There are no other priority meetings until the quarterly Board of Directors meeting at the end of the week."

She'll leave the socks on, Pepper decides. That should indicate a seduction with a limit, right? Because socks weren't really sexy.

"What about items needing the attention of Ironman?" Pepper hangs her sweater in the closet and pulls on one of Tony's t-shirts and darts into the bathroom to scrub her face and her teeth. A fresh face would hopefully indicate this wasn't a practiced attempt, and clean teeth…

Well, to be honest, there'd been a couple of dishes with garlic in them tonight, and she's got just enough nerves on edge to make her a little self-conscious.

"SHIELD has yet to indicate any need of assistance from Mr. Stark."

"And anything that he'd feel he'd need to involve himself in?" Things had been almost unnaturally quiet on the Ironman front since they'd gotten back from Georgia. Fortunately, since Tony hasn't been in any shape to go out, even in the suit. Or especially in the suit. Pepper knows he presses himself farther than he should when he's out there in his armor.

"The data tracking subroutines Mr. Stark installed in my information retrieval system indicates that the current peacekeeping bodies in al flagged areas of interest have their respective situations under control."

Pepper briefly wondered what sort of parameters separated a controlled situation from one needing aid. "Alright. Rearrange Mr. Stark's schedule so that his presence at Stark Industries won't be necessary before 11 am. Route all calls before 10 through the answering service or the main office, depending on which phone list they're on." Jarvis beeps to indicate the settings she's indicated have been put into effect. Outside Pepper can hear Tony moving around in the bedroom, probably taking off his shoes and socks, putting away cufflinks, that sort of thing.

'Okay,' she tells herself as she pauses at the bathroom door, quickly scrubbing her palms on the long hem of the t-shirt. 'I've got a plan. And Tony is just going to have to deal with it if we're going to deal with anything.' Still, she opens the door softly, hoping that the element of surprise might buy her a few more minutes of uncomplaining cooperation before Tony's brain catches up with him and he starts asking questions.

She's got to get his body on her side first if she's going to have any luck at convincing him to change his stance on just how intimate they're going to be.

Luck is with her; Tony's facing away, playing with something on the dresser. Pepper sidles up behind him, noiseless in her stocking feet. When Tony turns around, he starts a little to find her so close, but Pepper doesn't give him a chance to widen the distance. Her mouth finds his and her hands fumble down his arms until she can entwine her fingers with his, ensuring some control over them. He can't push her away now and she thinks that if she can just…if she can be the one eliciting the responses, then she shouldn't freeze up.

Unlike Tony, who is frozen under her kiss. Pepper pauses for a moment too, scared that maybe she's come on too strong. Then his hands tighten around hers, sending a jolt up the base of her neck; then she's kissing him hungrily, pushing up on her toes and pressing him back into the dresser, all while her hands stay fastened around his.

"Pep?" When he finally gets room to breathe, Tony's voice is breathy but cautious.

Her hands tighten on his. "Can I...can I take the lead?" Yes, she'd had some wine. With a full meal. And they had an agreement.

Pepper's heart was racing to begin with, but it begins pounding when Tony doesn't say anything. "You did say you weren't allowed to turn me down because I'd had a glass of wine with dinner. And I..." Explanations are always so hard. "I know almost everything about you, Tony. Except...except this. And so I'm always trying to anticipate, which we both know by now just doesn't get us anywhere. And I thought that if I could learn what you're like, then I could maybe start relaxing enough for us to learn what we're like."

More silence, then his hands tighten around her again. "Pepper…" When he speaks his voice is hungry but also amused. "I didn't expect you were going to... Love, I don't have any protection."

It takes her a moment to process his meaning, because that's so not where her mind is right now. "Oh. That's not, I mean, for what I have in mind, protection isn't really necessary." Pepper shifts around on her toes, knowing her face is probably bright red. "Look, I know you're all about share and share alike, but right now I'd really just like to start with share. I don't think I'm up for the 'alike' part yet."

Tony raises a brow as he processes this statement. Then he grins a little. "If this is really what you want, then I suppose I can make the sacrifice." For just a moment she thinks she sees a hint of what might be - relief? - in his eyes.

Pepper can't believe that he's not going to protest this any more than that, but she's not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. 'That must have been some talk he had with Mick,' she decides as she reaches for the buttons on his shirt and quickly undoes them. This at least she has plenty of practice at, considering how many times she's had to pour him into his bed over the course of her career.

Tony's hands come to a rest on her shoulders, rubbing reassuringly as she pulls his shirt tails out of his pants. "That's good," she murmurs, rising up on her toes to kiss him some more.

He nods a little. "One rule from my end?" he murmurs back. "I'm only going to touch where you choose to put my hands."

She nods against his mouth. He really is quite perceptive when he's paying attention. That had been next on her list of things to say. If she can keep from being distracted by trying to second guess what he might attempt, then she can focus fully on what he is doing. And on what she's doing, which at the moment is wrapping her arms around his neck so that she can be a little more on his level as she kisses him with more daring than she's previously used. He moans a little, lips parting without complaint as he returns the kiss with equal measure. Pepper shivers with delight and runs her hands through his hair; there's no reason not to go exploring, after all. The rules they've set down leave her safe.

After a few more moments she starts to shift them away from the dresser in favor of the bigger, more comfortable bed. She has to shrug his hands from his shoulders in order to strip him of his shirt and undershirt, and when their feet tangle as they hit the edge of the bed, she's glad to notice that he's already taken his shoes off. Not that she's quite ready to deal with his pants yet...but it's good future knowledge.

They end up on the bed rather awkwardly, Tony sitting down hard and Pepper climbing onto the bed to kneel at his side, but they manage not to break the kiss. Safe within her boundaries, Pepper finds herself suddenly ravenous for the taste of Tony, for the feel of his pulse racing under his skin, and the sound of his soft groans muffled against her open mouth.

The force of her kiss must be stronger than she realizes, for Tony's arms slide out from where he's supporting his weight with his hands and they both fall with a small thump to the mattress. It sets her giggling.

Tony's not laughing. He apparently is making an attempt to catch his breath. "Wow," he finally murmurs. "That's not the reaction I usually get after promising not to touch a woman."

Pepper just smiles so that her eyes crinkle a little at the corners, then moves her attention to the crook of his neck. Tony tenses as her lips meet his skin, whole body tightening as he bites back a defensive squeak.

"Bad?" She pulls back quickly, waiting for clarification. Knowing how she herself sometimes reacts to the unexpected, she doesn't want to force that on anyone else.

"No...I just might be a teeny-tiny bit ticklish."

Tony watches as Pepper considers. For all her passion, her eyes are very calculating. There's nothing she's doing without consideration, which makes him wonder how long she's been planning this. He plays with the ends of her hair, just watching, trying not to anticipate. A little anticipation is going to get him into trouble if he's not careful. So he enjoys what currently is: Pepper's hand sliding against the pulse in his neck as she delicately gnaws on her bottom lip and squints her eyes in extreme focus.

Then she bends down again, this time nipping at the skin firmly with her teeth; Tony groans. Pepper finds herself intrigued by the sound. She wants to find that threshold between ticklish and pleasurable.

Tony's heavy breathing is the soundtrack to her actions. She plays with the pressure, figuring out what kind of kisses make him shiver and tense, and which make him shiver and stretch out so she can do it some more. His hands playing in her hair are a steadying influence, keeping her braced above him. Her own hands are carrying out strictly assigned tasks; her right hand is braced on the mattress by Tony's ear, keeping her upright. Her left hand has the much more pleasant task of tracing meandering paths along his triceps as she starts to drag her kisses over his clavicle to his throat.

For as long as she's known him, Tony has never been a slouch when it's come to taking care of his physical appearance. Part of it was the man was blessed with one of those metabolisms that just didn't quit and a tendency to move when he was stuck on something. Another fairly large part was due to the fact that he was just vain – there was no two ways around it. After his decision to don the Ironman armor, he'd started bulking up considerably, so much so that she'd had to order him new dress shirts.

Frankly, that new body probably would have overwhelmed her now, Pepper thinks as she lifts her head enough to follow her hand's path with her eyes. Tony's current physique is much closer to the form she's known for years than to the bench-pressing, iron-pumping, Muscle Beach body he'd become in the wake of Afghanistan. Not that he's scrawny by any means, but the neglect he'd shown himself while she was gone had left him at least twenty pounds lighter than he'd been before she'd left. Twenty pounds he didn't outweigh or out-muscle her by. Twenty pounds she didn't need to be intimidated of.

"Pepper?"

"Hm?" She looks up as Tony cups her cheek.

"If you're having second thoughts, we don't have to –"

"Oh. No, that's not…" She trails her hand back and forth up his ribcage until she can gently roll her thumb across one nipple. His entire body tightens at the slight motion, and she swears she can practically hear him swallow hard as she starts circling with one unpainted fingernail. "I want to do this. I'm just glad you're not so…big…anymore. Or rather, right now."

"Big?" he echoes faintly as she brushes her hand over his chest again.

"Muscular," she amends after considering how else he could have taken her words. "I mean, I know Ironman has to be more than the suit, but…I guess I don't feel as…"

"Vulnerable?" he asks softly when she trails off and doesn't continue.

"Yeah," she whispers back before she laughs at herself with a certain measure of derision. "You'll tell me if my baggage is killing the mood, right?"

His hand raises to squeeze her free one for the space of a moment, before letting go again. "Only one thing's going to do that, remember? No tickling."

Her lips quiver a bit, as if uncertain they should smile or frown. She finally lets them curve up into a small smile. "Whatever you say, boss."

Tony leans forward just enough to press a kiss to her forehead; she can feel the way he smiles against her skin. "Boss, huh? When did I earn back THAT title?"

"You say that as if you ever earned it in the first place," she sighs into his ear as she settles into his side. Her legs move a little restlessly before she gives in and just drapes one across the both of his for now. Her fingers are still occupied with exploring his torso, testing the weight of muscle and the strength of bone and the smooth expanse of warm skin.

Tony shudders when she traces a pale scar on the right side of his ribcage, breathing increasing as his pupils dilate. "I like...to think...I managed...at least occasionally." She gets a similar reaction from tracing the skin around the arc ring.

"Occasionally. Even between the women and the tabloid fiascos, you still gave me reasons to be proud of you before Ironman." The scars are the only things that mar his skin. "How is it that out of all the wild things you did while drunk, getting a tattoo was never one of them?"

Tony chuckles. "Latent respect for my mother? She forbid it until my eighteenth birthday...and after that..." He shrugs a little. "She always claimed that that in light of Great Aunt Margie's Dachau number, all other body art was trashy."

"I thought about it a few times when I was in college," Pepper admits softly. "Until I realized it was an act of rebellion without a target. Besides, if I'd gone through with it, I never would have been able to wear that blue dress you like so much." Her fingertips circle around his implant one last time before slowly – hesitantly – blazing a trail down towards his navel.

"That...would have...been a pity." Tony admits in a breathy voice, thumb rhythmically tapping each of the fingers on one hand. He's having more trouble than he'd like with not being able to touch her...and he's afraid she'll take gripping the sheets as a sign of distress rather than as a sign that he doesn't trust himself to keep his hands under control if he touches her.

Pepper's lips quirk. If he thinks that's a pity, then he can't imagine what he'll think when he sees the dress she picked out for the benefit they're supposed to attend on Friday.

Her hand finally reaches its destination; a little stymied and only a little less twitchy than Tony, Pepper allows her palm to rest against his belly as she mentally hikes up her pants. After going this far she can't go back, and she doesn't even really want to. It's just that this is a Big Step - capital letters included.

"Tony?"

"Yeah, Pep?"

She can't quite put what she wants to tell him into words, so instead she leans down and softly kisses him. Tony leans forward just the slightest bit, lips returning the offered dance eagerly. This at least is comfortable AND completely familiar.

She stays there, allowing his passion to soothe her nerves. For him, she's enough. Right now, even though she can't offer him everything, she's still enough.

"Stay put," she breathes out softly when she gently breaks their kiss, though she quickly claims another quick peck to bolster her courage and she keeps her eyes on his heavily lidded ones as she climbs off the bed. Her too-big t-shirt and white cotton socks don't seem to do much to discourage him.

'Best to get it done,' she tells herself as she first pulls off his socks and then reaches for his belt buckle. Focused on her task, she doesn't notice the way Tony's eyes move from her hands to the bottom lip she unconsciously bites as she tries both to get him...well, naked...and to do it without teasing. Clothing removal is just a step, and she lets his pants and boxers drop to floor as she pulls them over his bare feet.

Is it really weird for her to notice that she LIKES the sight of his bare feet?

Pepper practically scrambles back onto the bed, her courage shot for the moment. It's not really Tony's nudity, or his evident arousal that's got her shaken, or even the thought - the determination - that she's going to bring him through to climax. It's the small voice in the back of her head that questions whether Tony's really going to be satisfied with a taste of sexual intimacy when he's used to having exactly what he wants. It's later tonight...or sometime tomorrow morning...whenever he might look at her and sees what she is rather than what for the first time she's willing to become that makes her worried.

"Last chance to take my deal on an open marriage," she says, half to tease, half to make him prove that she's really what he wants.

Tony frowns – his eyebrows come crashing together and he even bares his teeth at her a little – and he growls, "No. Way. In Hell."

His words burrow deeply inside her, setting up camp and making her daring. "Kiss me," she whispers as her hand slowly moves down his hip and along the outside of his thigh.

It takes him less than a second to obey, one hand coming up to gently but firmly wrap around the back of her head as he pulls her down. His lips move under hers with not just talent, but experience, as if he's going to give her something for her troubles come hell or high water. Pepper reciprocates by slowly dragging her hand up the inside of his thigh, feeling the body under her get tighter and tighter with ever inch she ascends, until…

Though he doesn't break the kiss he does jerk a little involuntarily when her hand finally reaches its destination.

"It's okay," he rumbles against her mouth as she freezes a little. "You're perfect, Pepper. You're...yes...just like…" He stops trying to cheerlead and tries to focus on kissing her instead since that's the only thing she's asked him to do for her. But it's been a...VERY...long time, and her hand is very...soft against him. And, well, it's Pepper. This is PEPPER here with him. So he thinks very distantly that perhaps he can be forgiven if he's distracted and that his lips end up on her neck instead as he grits his teeth and tries to hold on through the temptation to wildly let himself go instead of holding on...to see just how much...more...

In the end it's HER soft moan/sigh combo as he pulls her close and presses his face into her shoulder that sets him off. And damn, if it doesn't nail him right in the back of the head as he leverages his body against hers, seeking more of her warmth and skin and scent and sound and -

He realizes as he's panting hard against her neck and shivering with aftershocks that Pepper's entire body is trembling under his. It's enough for him to make an instinctive, uncoordinated attempt to give her space because the last thing he wants to do is to make her feel trapped –

Before he can really do more than lift up a few inches, her hands land in his hair and she presses tightly against him and her lips move hungrily over his so that he has to pull great deep breaths in through his nose, but who is he to argue?

He rolls till she's on top, putting every inch of love he feels into that long, breathless kiss.

"I love you," he manages when they finally come up for air.

Pepper nods, starting to get that. She's going to need to put on something dry to sleep in, but for the moment she takes a moment to cherish the fact that she did THAT to Tony.

She did.

All by herself.

When Tony finally speaks again it's to say, "I need some water. Want me to bring you anything?"

She shakes her head mutely against his chest. As long as he comes back so she can cuddle up to him, she'll be happy...

Tony edges from the bed then, heading out to the kitchen for a drink, then back into the master bath, where the shower comes on.

When he emerges it's in a pair of sleep bottoms, but no shirt or socks.

Pepper's taken the time to change into a set of silk pajamas, something she hasn't previously worked up the courage to wear to bed. All her sleep wear up to this point has been geared towards appearing somewhat asexual...but that's silly now. She's propped up in bed, a TiVo'd episode of Project Runway playing softly across the windows.

"Do you mind?" she asks softly, presumably meaning the show. Tony - far more interested in the new pajamas - shakes his head as he climbs under the sheets with her. He has a pillow, but he'd much rather arrange himself on her; he comes to a rest against her side, one leg sprawling over hers as he drapes one arm across her waist and rests his still-damp head against her chest where he can listen to heart. It's beating a little faster than late night TV - or even fashion - merits, but he doubts it's because she's uncomfortable.

"Am I crowding you?" he asks, just to test his theory.

"Oh. No." She shifts a little, one hand sliding up his arm to rest on his shoulder while the other starts to gently comb through his hair.

He groans softly, leaning into her hand. "You are EVIL...that's gonna put me to SLEEP."

"Is that a bad thing? If I recall my high school biology classes right, it's certainly natural." There's a hint of…pride…in Pepper's voice.

'Mmmm…definitely evil.' "Don't WANT to sleep..." he informs her, just the tiniest bit petulantly.

Pepper snickers. "That would have more effect if you'd been sucking your thumb too."

He quickly turns his head and catches HER thumb in his mouth. Pepper's gasp sounds loud in the quiet room, but she makes no move to pull her hand away.

"T-tony?"

He releases her hand reluctantly and with a soft "pop." She lets it hover there for a moment as if she's uncertain what to do now, but when he rests his head back on her chest, she returns it to his hair.

"You missed a spot when you washed your hands," he informs her wickedly. Her heart goes "ka-thump, ka-thump" in his ear, but she only slaps his shoulder lightly in retribution.

"Go to sleep," she orders. "I pushed back your first meeting to eleven, but tomorrow's still going to have plenty in it to do..."

"Remind me to give you a raise," he murmurs. "I'll sleep as soon as you do..."

"Just as soon as this episode is finished.

Tony snorts softly. "Don't get what you see in this show."

"Things are either really good or they're a train wreck. As your personal assistant, I can relate on an emotional level."

Tony snorts, eyes drifting shut as she starts to rub his head again. "You'll pay for that one, Potts. Tomorrow."

"Big talk," she teases as she bends her head to kiss the top of his head. He's exhausted and fighting against sleep. Despite the fact he'd gotten to sleep in that morning, he'd also gone to the gym with Rhodey and dinner with the Walsh's had been enough socialization to wear him down. Add a...physical release into that mix, and he was going to be out like a light inside five minute, now that he was in bed.

That little tidbit might be useful knowledge for the future, she mentally noted to herself. Especially now that she knows she can probably handle a repeat. With any luck each time she pushes forward against the nerves in her stomach they'll respond by pushing back less and less. Though, sooner or later they're going to have to address the fact that while she's at ease touching him, she still isn't sure about him returning the favor. One sided - mostly one sided - intimacy is alright for now because at least it's a step forward. Sooner or later though, she's going to have to let the shoe be on the other foot.

'Not tonight though,' she tells herself when Tony fails to respond. Hopefully her little man AND her big man are both down for the count. Momma could do with sleeping through the night for once.

Pepper squeezes Tony a little closer as Tim Gunn starts his critiques.

Maybe this is going to work out better than she'd originally thought.