Tony couldn't remember the last time he had been so anxious about something, thing which said a lot about the gravity of the situation. After Pepper snuggled into his side, Tony took the liberty to reach for the duvet and pulled it onto their sweaty bodies, wrapping his left arm around her shoulders while tracing random patterns on her skin. He closed his eyes tightly and pressed his mouth to her hair, inhaling softly before placing a tender kiss to the crown of her head.
Pepper sighed softly, lips brushing against his chest. The whole experience had rendered her speechless and powerless, but even though she felt sated, her mind was still spinning with the realization of what they had just done. She wondered what he was thinking; if she had pleased him or if she couldn't compare to all those bimbos he used to bring home almost every night before Afghanistan. Pepper knew that Tony had changed into a better man and that he was trying to prove this to her, but sometimes, when she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, all the memories came flooding back to her: the palladium poisioning, the Monaco attack, his disastrous birthday party, him openly flirting with Natalie in front of her just to make her feel bad, the Expo and so many other times when he had let her down.
Even though she had enjoyed the night immensely, Pepper was still wary. She still had doubts and worries. But she hoped that everything would work out and that things wouldn't be as messy as they were right then.
With all those thoughts consuming her, sleep claimed her for the better part of the night.
When the alarm went off, she reached out and turned it off, hand supporting the duvet over her chest as she did so. It was unnerving how the whole situation felt to her. She watched as Tony's eyes fluttered open and saw him stare at her for a really long time, until she tore her eyes away and looked at the bed instead.
"Hey…" She heard him whisper quietly before his warm hand encased her wrist in a secure grip.
She blinked down at their hands and licked her lips nervously, before holding his gaze softly. When she felt his gentle tug, Pepper let the duvet fall down from her chest and molded into his embrace, hand sliding up his neck and into his hair, lips yielding with his in a languid kiss.
Tony exhaled happily into her mouth and wrapped his arms around her naked waist, kissing her back enthusiastically.
"What do I have to say to convince you to stay with me instead of going to that boring meeting?" He mumbled against her lips, sliding one hand into her hair.
"It's not boring." Pepper replied breathlessly, her whole body convulsing lightly when his hand brushed against her ass. "Tony…"
Her breathless voice made him raise an eyebrow and put on the trademark smirk on his face.
"Last night was… um…" She tried to explain without making it sound so cheesy. "It was something I needed."
"Desperately." Tony added with a smug grin, earning a light punch against his shoulder.
"You're such an asshole." Pepper moaned and pulled back, placing her hand on his chest to keep him from standing up.
Only Tony could have made that comment and even though she knew that he'd meant it as a joke, deep inside Pepper knew that she should have expected him to think of her advances as an ultimate desperation.
"Hey! That's it?!" He asked incredulously, leaning his head against his bicep as he stared at her from beneath his long eyelashes. Sometimes Pepper wondered how it was possible for him to have such an amazing pair of eyes.
"Yes, that's it." Pepper said simply and sat up, giving him a glorious view of her bare backside, and headed for the bathroom.
An hour later, she walked out of the bathroom, fully dressed in a two piece white suit that made her look like she'd emerged out of a fashion catalog. She had tied up her hair into a ponytail and applied some make-up, effectively hiding away all the marks he'd made on her skin the night before.
"So you're going to avoid looking at me from now on just because we had sex last night?"
His question stopped her dead in her tracks and she brushed a hand against her blazer, lips trembling slightly. She was glad that her back was towards him so that he wouldn't see her so vulnerable.
"I'm trying to find my contract." She tried lamely, the lie obvious in the tone of her voice.
"Bullshit." Tony mumbled and sat up in the bed, resting against the headboard. "Why won't you look at me, Potts? Was I that bad? Did you expect me to be bigger or, or… more emotionally involved? Cause you're pissed and I can smell the anger off of you from here."
Pepper turned around sharply and faced him.
"Emotionally involved?!" She echoed him. "I'm not expecting you to be emotionally involved. The only thing I needed was for you not to be smug about the whole deal. Yes, I slept with you. But you don't have to look like you've just crossed it off the list in your head."
Tony stared at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"I didn't-"
"Didn't what? Cross it off a list? I bet you almost tripped over your feet before knocking on this door, Tony. I am absolutely aware of what it meant for the each one of us, but I thought that at least you'd have the decency not to spit out in my face the fact that I was so damn eager to fuck you."
That rendered Tony speechless. His eyes widened and he shook his head, quickly reaching down to grab his boxers. He watched in horror as she grabbed a file and headed for the door, with her lips tightened in anger.
"Pepper, wait!" He cried out and followed her.
"Don't follow me." Pepper huffed angrily and closed the door in his nose, marching towards the elevator.
A/N: More fighting or more lovemaking? You can state your choice below!