Disclaimer: Most of the characters and situations in this story belong to Marvel Comics, Fairview Entertainment, Dark Blades Films, and other entities, and I do not have permission to borrow them. No infringement is intended in any way, and this story is not for profit. All others belong to me, particularly Cedric, and if you want to borrow them, you have to ask me first. Any errors are mine, all mine, no you can't have any.
As always, I owe it all to Cincoflex!
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"Have you told Rhodey?" Pepper asked him the next day. "You should, you know."
"That you've moved in, or that our engagement's actually on?" Tony handed her back the little espresso cup, now empty, and went to pick out a tie.
"Both." Pepper was ready for the day in all details but her shoes; she was padding around in stocking feet, which Tony found an amusing change from her former morning routine.
"He's been TDY for a week. Some kind of conference in Germany, I think." Tony selected a subdued navy-with-red-stripe and slung it around his neck. "Want me to invite him for dinner or something?"
"If you like."
"We could see how long it takes him to figure it out." Tony waited until Pepper turned to look at him, then gave her his best puppy eyes. Her mouth quirked with tolerant humor, and she came over to do up his tie for him. Tony let his hands curve over her hips, and enjoyed her quick, efficient motions as she knotted the cloth with expert skill.
"Funny how you always forget how to do this on weekday mornings." Pepper jerked the knot tight and flipped down his collar, and Tony smirked.
"We could trade services. I'd be glad to help you with your pantyhose, for instance."
Pepper sniffed, opened her mouth, then shook her head minutely and closed it again, smoothing the fabric along his shoulders. "It could be fun, actually," she said as she stepped away, and it took Tony a second to figure out that she meant teasing Rhodey.
"Done," he said instantly. "I'll get Platypus over here by seven at the latest. Want to lay bets on Colonel Oblivious?"
"That would be mean," Pepper said primly. "Besides, I'd win."
"Now that's a challenge if I ever heard one." Tony grinned. "You are so on, Potts."
"We're going to be late," she returned, neither agreeing nor refusing, and slipped out of the room, still smiling. Tony grabbed his coat, whistling cheerfully to himself.
"Pepper does not own pantyhose," Jarvis said abruptly, bringing Tony to a halt near the door.
"Huh?" He wasn't surprised at the AI's form of address, but at the statement itself. "What do you mean? I saw them myself." They added a subtle shimmer to her delectable legs and he always noticed.
"You are in error," Jarvis corrected. "When she unpacked her belongings, I took note of her clothing. Pepper's hosiery is either elasticized, or requires the use of a garter belt."
The vision left him dry-mouthed. Tony suppressed a groan, and banged his forehead gently against the frame of the doorway. "Don't tell me these things at this hour of the morning," he hissed.
"What is the relevance of the time of day?" Jarvis asked curiously.
"Ngh. Never mind." Tony took a deep breath. He already had enough naughty thoughts about Pepper's lingerie without hearing the details.
"Tony? Are you coming?" Pepper's voice echoed back down the hall, and he sighed.
"Not at the moment," he muttered, and went out to face the day, and the burning question that would occupy him for all of it--
--Garter belt, or no garter belt?
***
The question was still at the back of his mind when Rhodey arrived that evening, casual in jeans and a leather jacket. "Perfect timing," Tony told him when Jarvis let him in. "The food got here five minutes ago."
"Where'd you order from?" Rhodey asked, shedding his jacket and draping it over the back of the long couch. "Oh, hey, Pepper."
Pepper, coming down the stairs, smiled at him. "Hi, Jimmy. La Miche, and yes, I got you strawberry cake."
"Excellent." Rhodes leaned down to kiss her cheek as she neared, taking in her own casual attire without a blink; Pepper had been known to change out of her work clothes for late nights at Tony's. Tony smirked to himself, wondering if he should go up and check the hamper in her room to find out what she'd been wearing.
He was also betting that Rhodey wouldn't notice the change in their dynamic at all, and was calculating the entertainment value of being able to hold it over his friend's head later.
"Speaking of, shall we?" Pepper gestured towards the kitchen, and both men followed her to where the table was already set. Tony almost never used his dining room unless he was throwing a party, or putting on a show to impress someone; it was too formal for casual meals, and Pepper seemed to agree.
They settled into their usual seats, Pepper at the end and the men on either side, and ate. Rhodey regaled them with funny stories about the conference, remembering eventually that he'd brought presents and ducking out to the living room to fetch them from his jacket pockets.
"Nothing yet," Tony said sotto voce as Rhodes disappeared. "The man is clueless."
"Maybe, maybe not." Pepper scooped up the last of her lamb, her smile small and curling.
"No fair telling him, Potts," Tony retorted, a little alarmed.
"Wasn't that the point of this?" Pepper pointed her fork at him. "And may I remind you I didn't agree to any bet?"
"Sure you did, you just didn't say so out loud. And I will. On his way out the door."
"A verbal agreement has to actually have words, Tony." Her dimples deepened. "Or at the very least a handshake."
"You just don't want to lose."
"Lose what?" Rhodey asked, coming back in with his hands full. "Tony, are you trying to get Pepper to spend the weekend at Monte Carlo again?"
"No, but that's a good idea," Tony said, shooting a glance at Pepper, who was looking innocent. "We could try to break the bank. Again."
Pepper pursed her lips. "If you'll let me off long enough to go shopping, I'll consider it."
It was the first time she'd taken his offer seriously, and Tony couldn't help grinning. "Potts, I'll give you my credit card if you'll set it up."
She blinked, and Rhodes laughed. "Here, something to distract you while you plot world financial domination." He tossed a package to Tony and slid another across the table to Pepper.
She was quick to open it, smiling over the contents--extremely high-end chocolate. "Thank you, Jimmy, you never forget."
"Maybe we should call you Pachyderm instead of Platypus," Tony said, tearing open his own package with a touch of rancor. It was stupid to be annoyed when Rhodes remembered things about Pepper that Tony tended to forget, but he couldn't help it. But the irritation vanished at the sight of what lay beneath the tissue paper. "Hey, cool!"
"I thought you'd like that," Rhodes said, leaning back with a pleased expression. The little wind-up robot was an antique, its painted tin scratched and battered, but when Tony turned the key and set it down, it marched steadily across the table. "Picked it up at a street market in Stuttgart."
Pepper, nibbling on a truffle, shook her head. "I don't know how you find these things, Jimmy."
"Long practice," he assured her, shaking his head when she proffered the box. "Every so often I just see something that screams 'Tony'."
Tony, prying the toy open with his butter knife, snorted. "The last time you did that, it was a groupie." He peered at the works, blowing gently to clear out some dust.
Pepper snickered, and Rhodes rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, her I left where I found her."
"I think this thing is actually Victorian. Thanks," Tony said absently, taking a truffle when Pepper nudged the box closer to him and popping it whole into his mouth.
"I shouldn't waste them on you," she sighed. "You treat fine chocolates with respect, Tony, not gulp them like Hershey's Kisses."
Still chewing, he refrained from sticking out his tongue at her. Pepper took the box back and selected another truffle, closing the container afterwards.
"He was probably the kind of kid who ate all his Halloween candy the first night," Rhodey offered comfortably.
Tony swallowed. "Whereas Potts was the kind who hung onto it so long it went stale, where's the fun in that?"
"The lack of a stomachache," Pepper said with dignity, rising to her feet. "Do you want your cake, Jimmy?"
"Sure." He smiled at her, and Pepper took her chocolate with her as she went over to the remaining boxes on the counter, apparently not trusting Tony to keep from raiding it.
Tony kept dismantling his toy, spreading the gears out in front of his shoved-aside plate. As Pepper returned with the cake, Rhodey spoke again. "So how long have you two been official?"
Tony's head snapped up and he stared at his friend. "Official what?" Pepper rolled her eyes, then handed Rhodes the plate and took her seat.
"Don't give me that innocent look, Stark, I have known you way too long." Rhodey grinned at them both. "Dude, it's obvious."
"Fuck." Tony tossed down his knife. "I thought we had you going." He shot a mild glare at the snickering Pepper.
Rhodey dug into his cake, looking smug. "Yeah, well, they train us to do more than just fly planes." He put a huge forkful into his mouth.
Pepper glanced at Tony. "I guess that means I win the bet."
"What bet?" he answered instantly. "As I recall you didn't agree to anything."
Rhodey started laughing, and almost choked. Pepper leaned over to thump him on the back, and he sputtered, wheezing. "You two are so made for each other," he finally managed, eyes watering.
"I like to think so," Tony said, giving in and reaching for Pepper's hand now that the jig was up.
She laced her fingers with his, her dimples showing. "Obvious how, Jimmy?"
Rhodes wiped his eyes with his napkin. "Aside from the fact that Tin Man here looks proud enough to bust his iron britches?" Tony sneered at him, and Rhodey smirked and went on. "You two always had this barrier thing going. It's not there any more."
Huh. Tony blinked, and felt Pepper's hand twitch in his. He's right. He and Pepper had always kept that careful, slender line between them; they had both had moments of teetering on the edge of crossing it, but for one reason or another they had always pulled back.
"Plus, you're more relaxed." Rhodey jerked his chin at Pepper. "So I take it Tony's being a good boy."
Tony used his free hand to give Rhodes an extremely rude gesture, but Pepper shook her head.
"Tony is...amazing," she said, her smile soft as she glanced at Tony. "Just amazing."
The simple words made him melt. Tony wanted to pull her onto his lap and kiss her senseless, but he settled for lifting her hand to his mouth instead for a lingering touch, never taking his eyes from hers. Pepper blushed, and on the other side of the table Rhodey blew a raspberry.
"You guys really are sickening. I thought that was just for show." But his expression, when Tony finally looked over at him, was half-tease, half genuine pleasure.
Pepper sniffed. "He's actually handling the whole relationship thing better than I am, Jimmy. So give him credit where it's due."
Rhodes lifted a hand in surrender. "Okay, okay, I give. Sheesh." He stuffed another forkful of cake in his mouth, eyes twinkling, and Tony smiled and kept hold of Pepper's hand.
Unfortunately for their evening, Jarvis interrupted their after-dinner conversation with news of Stark Industries weapons in the hands of mercenaries in Chile. Pepper excused herself to make a quick call, and Rhodey came along to kibbitz as the 'bots wrapped Tony in titanium and gold.
The process was almost finished before Rhodey spoke. "You're doing pretty good, man."
Tony glanced over at him as much as the process would allow. "So far, anyway." At Rhodes' look of inquiry, he continued. "I'll screw up eventually. It's kinda inevitable."
Rhodey laughed briefly. "Tony, everybody screws up eventually. The trick is to keep going." He shrugged. "Or so I'm told."
Tony held still as the helmet clicked into place, not missing the sad note in his friend's voice. For all that Rhodey took his relationships more seriously than Tony had, he was still alone and had been for over a year. "Yeah, well, I'll keep it in mind."
The stairwell door beeped open and Pepper came through, shoving her phone in her pocket on her way to where Tony stood. "Be careful," she said quietly as she stopped in front of him.
The armor and her lack of heels gave him at least three inches on her, and it felt decidedly odd. But her brief hard kiss held no self-consciousness, and Tony returned it in full measure. Then she was stepping back out of blast range, and he snapped the helmet shut.
The first instant of rising was always exciting, even with such grim purpose, and Tony hovered for a breath, taking in the two people most important to him and storing the memory carefully. "Love you, Potts," he said, knowing the words would reach Rhodey too and not caring at all.
He was out of the tunnel within seconds and climbing into the night sky, but the text message that flowed across his HUD wasn't far behind.
Love you too.
Tony grinned fiercely, and arrowed away.
*********
It surprised him, when he thought about it, how easily they slipped into living in the same house, but then that was Pepper--she made things easy. Tony got used to seeing her possessions here and there, her raincoat in his front closet, her ancient mixer on his kitchen counter; he offered to replace it, but she refused, saying that she and the Sunbeam understood each other.
Her car found its place at the end of his long row of gems; her hair ties multiplied and turned up in odd corners; the very scent of the house changed subtly, incorporating the new, sweeter notes of a woman among the base of polish and stone and his own faint musk.
Pepper didn't move in all at once; some nights she still went back to her apartment, citing thirsty plants or a need for space, and Tony bit his lip and tried not to argue...too much. Since she always came back with a few more possessions, he found his forbearance rewarded.
Some nights, when she'd kissed him goodnight--briefly or lingeringly, depending on what they were doing--and gone to bed, he would rouse from sleep or work past midnight and wander up to the white guest room.
Pepper had never required a promise of him, but Tony still didn't cross the threshold, instead folding his arms and leaning against the doorframe to watch her sleep. She sprawled under the covers, not something he would have expected--limbs extended in a relaxed abandon scarcely hinted at in her waking containment. Her face was smooth and slack, almost vacant, but his gaze dwelled on it anyway, the proof that she was comfortable enough to sleep in his home.
"Do you want to move your bed here?" he asked one morning, as he ate eggs and she spooned up yogurt.
Pepper gave him a startled glance. "Eventually," she said after a moment. "I mean, I suppose I could sell it, but I'd rather just store it for the moment--it's got some sentimental value."
Tony raised a brow. "Now that's a story that needs to be told," he commented with a smirk, and Pepper rolled her eyes.
"Not that kind of sentiment, Tony. Thank you, but there's no point in setting it up here when I'll only be sleeping in it for a little while longer."
He reached across the table and caught her fingers, unable to quell his eagerness. "How much longer?"
Her blush was accompanied by a slightly helpless look. "I--I'm not sure. I don't--"
Tony made himself let her go, fighting a disappointed libido. "Okay, sure." He knew he sounded petulant, but she was a temptation, a far greater one than when she'd been off-limits, and despite a little self-adjustment he was feeling impatient.
Pepper's mouth quirked, and she looked back down at her yogurt. "Anyway. I bought that bed with my first bonus from my first job--it was the first time I'd owned anything larger than a twin."
Her voice was a bit stilted, and Tony let out a long breath and tried to master his temper. "There's plenty of storage space in the sub-basement. I'll clear you out a room if you want."
Her glance was grateful. "That would be good, thank you, Tony."
The rest of breakfast was slightly strained, but that ebbed over the course of the day, and over dinner at the same sushi place where Rhodey had found them before, Tony posed the question again. "So, you still want the honey-Moon?" He wiggled his fingers for emphasis.
Pepper almost choked on her water. "That was terrible. No, of course not, I wasn't serious."
"Good, because spacesuits would pretty much defeat the purpose," he said, smirking. "Where would you really like to go?" Tony pointed at her. "And don't say we're not having one. We're going all the way, Potts."
Pepper bit her lip, then propped an elbow on the table and rested her chin in her palm. "Have you ever been to Orcas Island?"
"Orcas Island?" Tony cocked his head. "Nope, never even heard of it."
"It's one of the San Juan Islands in Washington. Not really very touristy." Pepper smiled a little, in what he assumed was reminiscence.
"That's where you want to go?" Such a place would never have occurred to Tony, but he was willing to be open-minded.
"It's lovely at this time of year...a little rural, but absolutely beautiful, and, um, isolated." Her smile held a sensuality that made Tony catch his breath. "Lots of nice bed and breakfast places."
"Orcas Island it is," he agreed at once. "I'm sure we can find something to do."
"I'm sure," Pepper mimicked gently, still smiling, and Tony smiled back, caught in visions of walking with her in woods, sailing maybe...laying her down on crisp cotton sheets in a cozy bedroom.
Yes, a honeymoon with Pepper would make anywhere wonderful, but he definitely liked her idea.
Especially the isolated part.
As long as I can get her to leave the BlackBerry behind...
*********
In the end, Pepper settled on having the ceremony actually at the house, out on the cliff at the edge of Tony's property, and started planning. The view was desperately romantic, and he thoroughly approved. So did Happy, because the security would be much easier to handle. There would be the usual offshore gawkers, Tony knew, but putting some SI security personnel into cutters would keep them at a respectful distance.
Airspace wouldn't be a problem either. Tony spent half a night in his workshop and put together a repulsor field that would keep news helicopters from encroaching. It drew a tremendous amount of power, making it impractical for daily use, but he figured it would be fine for a one-off.
In the three weeks since Pepper had agreed to marry him, she had gradually moved many of her possessions in from her apartment, most of which she put into storage, though she had hung a few photographs in the kitchen and set up a small plant stand in the white guest room.
"Are you sure you don't want to do more?" Tony asked her one Friday morning as she arrived, taking the box she was lugging towards the elevator. "The house is yours, Potts, but you've barely made any impact."
She grinned at him. "Patience, Mr. Stark. I prefer to sneak up on things. That way by the time you figure out I've redecorated the place in early chintz, it'll be too late to argue."
Tony followed her into the elevator, snickering. "You're assuming I'd care."
Her expression softened. "You would. You're very particular about your environment, Tony, and I don't want to disturb that."
He stared at her, baffled and a little frustrated. "Pepper--"
She leaned around the box and kissed him gently. "I know you want me to feel at home, and believe me, I appreciate it. I will make changes eventually, but I need to get used to the idea myself."
"All right," he sighed, and carried the box to her room as soon as the elevator doors opened. The place was different, he had to admit as he looked around; there were several prints on the walls, adding splashes of color, and her little antique desk sat under one of the windows. The blue comforter was vivid against the room's pale tones.
Tony set the box down and regarded one of the prints. "You know, you could just get the original out of storage."
Pepper laughed again and slid her arms around him from behind, hands resting just below his arc implant. "Patience," she repeated.
He leaned back a little into her embrace and turned his head towards hers, the better to feel her breath on his cheek. "Working on it."
"That reminds me," and the words were a caress against his skin, "I intend to spend tonight at h--at my apartment."
Tony reached up and covered one of her hands with his own, squeezing gently. "If I whine, will you change your mind?"
Pepper chuckled. "No, but you're welcome to come with if you want."
He let her hand go and turned in her arms, catching her lips in a brief, intense kiss. "Oh, I want." He'd dropped her off at her apartment a couple of times, but he'd never been back up to it, and he was still curious despite spending the night once before. "Can't disappoint the press, after all."
That made her laugh outright, and she stepped smoothly from his arms, straightening her jacket with a quick tug. "Of course not. Now go get dressed in something a little more formal, and we can start the day."
Tony glanced down at his sweatpants and sleeveless t-shirt. "What will you give me if I do?"
Pepper was already halfway out of the room. "A briefing, instead of a scolding," came trailing back, and Tony sighed and followed.
*********
The first thing he noticed when she opened her door that evening was the bare walls. Tony followed Pepper in, taking in the changes--the missing desk, boxes stacked against one living room wall, two more in the middle of the floor half-full of objects wrapped in paper. Much of the coziness was gone, but the place still smelled like her, and Tony took comfort in that.
Pepper headed straight for the kitchen and Tony followed, watching as she dumped her purse on one counter. "Need any help packing? I could hire you a moving service, no problem."
She shook her head. "No, thank you--I have it under control. I made a good start two weekends ago and I can finish up as I go." Pepper shut off her BlackBerry with a deliberate motion.
The sight made his brows go up. "Whoa, Potts, I didn't even know that thing had an off switch."
She shot him a dry glance, her cheeks a little pink for some reason as she shrugged out of her suit jacket. "Tony, I need you to do something for me."
"Is it dirty?" he asked hopefully, smirking, and her lips quirked.
"Go back to the living room and tell me what's missing."
"O-kay..." Puzzled but not unwilling, Tony reversed direction and studied the big room. The desk's gone, it's back in her room...TV? No, that's on the floor there...pictures...oh. He felt a little stupid for not noticing at once that the couch was no longer in its place.
And then he felt a tide of heat rising from the soles of his feet straight upwards to his scalp, locking his focus in on the woman in the other room.
No. Couch.
Which meant they were sharing a bed tonight.
Tony pivoted and was back in the kitchen in five strides. Pepper was still there, bent over awkwardly as she worked the buckle on her right stiletto; her hair was in her face and her backside in the air, and all he saw was grace.
"No," he said, his voice rough, and Pepper glanced up in surprise. "That's mine."
He could hardly get the words out. Pepper straightened, and almost before he realized it Tony had lifted her off her feet, a bride's carry for his bride-to-be.
Pepper lifted a hand to his cheek and kissed him, and Tony sank into her mouth, feeling his heart pounding behind his implant. His feet carried him forward, and though he'd only been to her bedroom once, they seemed to know the way.
She didn't let him go until halfway down the hall, and he didn't want to speak, but it was necessary. "I hope you have condoms, Potts, because I only have one and that's not going to be enough."
Her smile was slow and promising. "I'm on the Pill. You won't need them at all."
His arms tightened, and Tony walked faster.
Her bedroom seemed much as he remembered it, but he wasn't paying attention to much besides the bed. It had a green coverlet this time, matching the leaves wound over its frame, and he set Pepper down on it carefully. Her hands tried to draw him down after her, but instead he knelt by the bed.
The buckles on her shoes were tiny, but his fingers were expert at small things. Tony pulled off the heels and set them aside, rubbing his thumbs along her arches for a moment just to see her toes curl, and then stood.
Pepper reached up and slid his jacket from his shoulders. Tony let it fall and leaned in to kiss her again, drowning in her, feeling her tug on his tie to urge him closer. His hands landed on the comforter on either side of her hips, and he resisted her pull only because he wanted to do this right.
He had slept with more women than he could count, but this was Pepper, and God willing she would be the only one ever again. So Tony pulled back and took her wrists gently, placing a lingering kiss in the cup of each hand before reaching for the hem of her blouse.
He undressed her slowly, exploring each revealed inch of skin with all the concentration of a man discovering beauty for the first time. Pepper flushed beneath his touches, smiling and a little shy, and coaxed him out of his own clothing whenever he could spare the attention. Her hands were cool and soft, stroking the scars around his arc implant with a tenderness that put a lump in his throat and made him kiss her all the harder, and she laughed and pulled him closer.
From the delicate flesh inside her double-jointed elbow to the high arch of her foot, to the span of her waist and all the way up her spine, he learned her with every sense, trading murmurs and sighs and tiny teases. Mine was the only thought that formed, reverent and only half-believing, mine, mine, the awed, exulting joy of winning this final trust, of glorying in the welcome of her body. He turned her moans to gasps and her gasps to cries, and fed his own desperate hunger in sating hers. And in the end, when his control failed and everything whited out but the feel of Pepper holding him hard, Tony knew.
There would never be anyone else.
***
He remembered pure boneless contentment afterwards, slow dizzy kisses, but not drifting off. Waking was just about as peculiar as the dream he'd been having, but it was good, almost miraculous--surfacing to the warm curl of Pepper around him and the sweet, sweet knowledge that he belonged to her as much as she to him. When he opened his eyes, it was to her smile, soft and quietly delighted. "Hey."
He hadn't been asleep long, and Pepper still looked thoroughly loved, her hair tangled and her lips a little swollen. Tony gave her a wry smile, too relaxed to be truly abashed. "Believe me, I don't usually fall asleep like that."
She chuckled, and brushed a kiss over his mouth, one he returned eagerly. "I'll take it as a compliment."
She did know him, Tony had to admit; only trust would let him nod off next to any lover, and he couldn't remember ever doing so before. Stretching a little, he nodded at the plant-laced framework overhead. "You know, Potts, a four-poster gives a man ideas."
"Which is exactly why I bought it," Pepper deadpanned, and rose up on one elbow, touching his lips with one long finger when he would have answered. "Later, maybe."
That definitely gave him all sorts of interesting ideas, but they fled as she moved to straddle him, and Tony gave himself up to her without hesitation.
*********
They spent all of the weekend at Pepper's apartment, but when they left on Sunday evening they took two suitcases with them, and Tony had the feeling that she wouldn't be coming back to do more than finish emptying the place. Pepper settled into the seat next to him with a relaxed sigh, and he permitted himself a smirk as he backed the roadster out of its parking slot, grateful that they'd brought a car that possessed at least a little trunk space.
"You happy?" he asked eventually, somewhere on the highway, and glanced over in time to see her smile.
"Yes."
He sighed himself, contented, and drove on.
When they reached the house, Tony insisted on taking the suitcases upstairs and into what he was determined would be their bedroom. Pepper followed him, looking bemused. "Tony--"
He put the cases down near the big bed and reached out to pull her into his arms. "No. We're not sleeping apart any more, Pepper."
The corner of her mouth tucked in, and Tony felt her hands working into the back pockets of his jeans. "Agreed. But those are full of stuff I was going to put in storage. Sweaters and things."
"Ah. No need to do that." Tony let her go and opened the closet door with a flourish. "Plenty of room in here."
Pepper stepped up to look in, and blinked at the neat rows of her own clothing, taken from the white guest room and hung up properly. There was still quite enough space left over, Tony noted. Pepper's brow creased. "How did you--"
"Dummy," Tony explained, feeling smug, and put his arms around her from behind. "I called Jarvis on Saturday."
He could feel her laugh vibrate through her sternum, and she leaned back against him easily. "I'll have to thank them both."
"What about me?" Tony teased, nosing her ear, and Pepper hummed, turning her head enough to kiss him lingeringly. When she let him go, he grinned. "Yeah, that'll do."
Pepper stepped out of his grip and into the closet, and laughed again. "Dummy's programming might need a little adjustment." She pointed at her shoes, which were arranged by color and... "He's got all the lefts on one side and the rights on the other."
Tony looked down at the array, which, when he thought about it, held a certain logic. "Makes sense to me."
"I hope his feelings aren't hurt when I rearrange them," Pepper said dryly.
She turned back, cupped his face in her hands, and kissed him once more, slow and sweet. "Thank you for making me feel welcome," she whispered.
Tony pulled her close, his hunger for her touch not lessened by their busy weekend, and it was with mingled pleasure and vulnerability that he realized that it probably never would be. "I love you," he muttered roughly, unable to articulate anything more, but the willing press of her body against his, the warmth of her hug, told him she understood.
A long while later Pepper pulled back. "I don't know about you, Mr. Stark, but I need to get some sleep before the week starts."
"If you insist," Tony mock-grumbled, letting her go with some reluctance. "Does this mean we get to shower together?" Despite his fantasy, the tub in her apartment was not large enough for two, even standing.
"If you want," Pepper said, pinkening, and surprising him. "But showering only, Tony. I'm a little, um, sore."
He let the grin take over. "No problem."
Within ten minutes, the spacious bathroom off the master bedroom was filling with steam, and Tony was already naked, slipping Pepper's robe from her shoulders with eager care and the scent of vanilla on his mind.
Pepper with water streaming over her skin far surpassed his imagination, and his huge shower had plenty of room. Tony lathered up the net sponge slowly, unable to take his eyes from her.
Pepper blushed a little, wiping her water-darkened hair out of her eyes. "Tony..."
He smiled, slow and utterly, utterly pleased. "Come here."
It was better than his fantasy. She let him bathe her, and he did her back first, covering the territory he'd skimmed with sunscreen but this time laying a kiss on every vertebra and kneeling to take that nibble he'd wanted for so long. And instead of a squeak he won a gasp that made him proud.
"Shower only," Pepper repeated when he rose from sliding the sponge down those sleek legs. But there was little conviction in her voice.
"Relax," Tony said as he stepped up behind her, reaching around to start at her collarbone. "Trust me."
She leaned back against him with a sigh, and when he had to turn her to finish the job, she didn't protest; when he dropped to his knees once more and coaxed her legs apart, she moaned.
And gave him all the access he wanted.
***
Making love with Pepper had been a revelation, but so was settling into bed with her, in the space he meant to become theirs, without ceremony or fuss. She wore a long sleepshirt over nothing at all, and her hair smelled clean, still warm from the dryer as she snuggled into Tony's arms. He slid a leg over hers and sighed, feeling his eyes closing almost despite himself. "You're better than a sleeping pill, Potts," he mumbled against her forehead.
She snickered, poked him gently, and relaxed. And he smiled, and let himself go.