Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man: Chapter Sixteen
TITLE: Yes, Virginia, There Really Is An Iron Man
AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Sixteen:
Tony woke up in an unfamiliar room that held a very familiar scent of strawberry shampoo-his hand was what actually woke him. He’d taken the brace off last night while he was working on the computer and accidentally left it in the office. The bottle of Demerol was still in the pocket of his jeans.
As he reached for the pills he noted the lack of weight on the opposite site of the bed and remembered that he’d fallen asleep in Pepper’s arms… The last sensation he recalled was her lips against his closed eyelids.
Tony dug beneath the covers, fished out a pill and dry swallowed it. As he waited for the medication to kick in, he took stock of the current situation. One, Pepper had actually tucked him under the covers last night. Two, she’d taken his shoes and socks off for him. Three, he told her he loved her.
I love her… I do. I really am in love with Pepper Potts.
The thought still frightened him a bit. What if he screwed this up? He was never good with relationships-at least, not in his mind. If he truly thought of it, he had been with Pepper longer than any woman in his life.
He slid sideways on the mattress and shifted the top sheet an comforter to one side-letting his toes dig into the deep pile of the cream-colored carpet. Before he stood, he ground the heel of his right hand against his eyes.
He hadn’t slept that well since… Well, since yesterday on the sofa.
Tony glanced down at the foot of the bed and saw his clothes laid out for him. He smiled and changed into his comfortable jeans (in other words, the most threadbare and holey he owned) and one of the T-shirts he’d cut a hole out of for the arc reactor.
He smelled brewed coffee and followed it down to Pepper’s kitchen.
She was sitting at her breakfast nook with the day’s paper in one hand and a pink mug in the other. Her hair was left down in waves and she wore a pair of cutoff jeans and a cyan tank top. In the empty seat across from her she had laid out a cup of coffee for him along with his favorite section of the newspaper-the page folded so that the sudoku puzzle was the first thing he saw. A pen was laid across the top of it.
“Morning,” he greeted quietly.
Pepper smiled at him and dropped the paper in exchange for a container of peach yogurt. “Good morning, Tony.”
He slid into the seat she had ready for him and immediately picked up the pen.
Morning routine at the office…
Pepper glanced down at the second hand on her watch. “Ready? And… Go.”
Tony started filling in the sudoku puzzle-his brain easily working out the numbers until all nine squares were filled in. “Done,” he announced.
Pepper grinned. “Thirteen seconds. You’re getting faster.”
Tony grinned and stole a spoonful of her yogurt. They stared at each other for a long moment.
“I meant it, you know,” he said as he pulled the spoon out of his mouth and handed it back to her.
Her eyes widened as she scooped up some more yogurt.
“Last night,” Tony rubbed at his chin. “I meant what I said. I need you to know that. You’re all I’ve got and all I need and…” he sighed and reached over to grasp her hands in his-placing the spoon in the cup of yogurt. “I do, you know. Love you.”
Pepper’s chin was quavering. She tightened her fingers around his and dropped her forehead onto his knuckles. Tony could literally feel her relief at hearing him say it again and he bent to kiss the top of her head.
“I’m glad you came over last night,” Pepper admitted. Tony heard the thick catch in her voice. “I don’t think I could have said anything if you hadn’t come over.”
Tony tipped her chin up and pressed his lips lightly against hers. It was an unusual sensation-kissing a woman he knew so well and had such a strong emotional connection to.
A very strong emotional connection.
He tilted his head an opened his mouth to gently run his tongue across the seam of her lips. He tasted peach yogurt and Maxwell House coffee and closed his eyes as he cupped her cheeks in his hands.
Emboldened in the comfort of her own breakfast nook, Pepper chased his tongue with hers and curled her fingers around the hair at the back of his neck.
Tony forgot how good kissing actually felt.
Coffee and yogurt was abandoned and the pair stumbled blindly into the living room. Tony gave up on walking Pepper backwards, wrapped one arm tightly around her thin waist, and just lifted her off her feet. She let out a surprised noise that reverberated through Tony’s molars.
He twisted around on the balls of his feet and twirled her so they’d land on her sofa. His hands ran along the silken skin behind her knees and Pepper grabbed his face and tilted his chin back as far as it would go-she poured her heart into kissing him. She wanted to brand her mouth to his and erase the sensation of any other woman’s kiss.
It worked.
Eventually, breathing became an issue and Tony moved his chin down to meet with her shoulder as he tried to fill his lungs. Pepper shivered when his beard scratched against her bared skin.
He tried to talk but had to clear a frog out of his throat to say anything. “Uh…”
“A little overwhelming?” Pepper guessed.
“Yu-huh,” he mumbled into her hair.
She pressed further into him and they slid sideways on the couch until she was straddling his abdomen. “I agree.”
Tony could not deny the fact that he was physically aching to be with her, but he did still have enough control to stop himself. He gently took her face in his hands and pressed a chaste kiss on her swollen lips. Her hand was clasped just to the right of the arc reactor and she could feel the frantic pounding of his heart.
“Tony?”
“Mm?”
“I’m kind of scared,” she slid her left leg between his thighs and draped herself across him much like she had the previous morning.
“Pepper?”
“What?”
Tony gently took her hand and kissed her fingers. “I’m kind of scared, too.”
They looked at each other and held onto the moment-one of very few they would be allowed to have to themselves.
TBC
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AUTHOR: Quicksilvermad
SUMMARY: (Movie-verse) Pepper deals with Tony’s newfound lease on life and ends up making a mountain out of her molehill of emotion where her boss is concerned.
GENRE: Humor/Romance
RATING: PG13
PAIRING: Tony/Pepper
DISCLAIMER: Iron Man etc. belong to Marvel Comics et. al.
Chapter Sixteen:
Tony woke up in an unfamiliar room that held a very familiar scent of strawberry shampoo-his hand was what actually woke him. He’d taken the brace off last night while he was working on the computer and accidentally left it in the office. The bottle of Demerol was still in the pocket of his jeans.
As he reached for the pills he noted the lack of weight on the opposite site of the bed and remembered that he’d fallen asleep in Pepper’s arms… The last sensation he recalled was her lips against his closed eyelids.
Tony dug beneath the covers, fished out a pill and dry swallowed it. As he waited for the medication to kick in, he took stock of the current situation. One, Pepper had actually tucked him under the covers last night. Two, she’d taken his shoes and socks off for him. Three, he told her he loved her.
I love her… I do. I really am in love with Pepper Potts.
The thought still frightened him a bit. What if he screwed this up? He was never good with relationships-at least, not in his mind. If he truly thought of it, he had been with Pepper longer than any woman in his life.
He slid sideways on the mattress and shifted the top sheet an comforter to one side-letting his toes dig into the deep pile of the cream-colored carpet. Before he stood, he ground the heel of his right hand against his eyes.
He hadn’t slept that well since… Well, since yesterday on the sofa.
Tony glanced down at the foot of the bed and saw his clothes laid out for him. He smiled and changed into his comfortable jeans (in other words, the most threadbare and holey he owned) and one of the T-shirts he’d cut a hole out of for the arc reactor.
He smelled brewed coffee and followed it down to Pepper’s kitchen.
She was sitting at her breakfast nook with the day’s paper in one hand and a pink mug in the other. Her hair was left down in waves and she wore a pair of cutoff jeans and a cyan tank top. In the empty seat across from her she had laid out a cup of coffee for him along with his favorite section of the newspaper-the page folded so that the sudoku puzzle was the first thing he saw. A pen was laid across the top of it.
“Morning,” he greeted quietly.
Pepper smiled at him and dropped the paper in exchange for a container of peach yogurt. “Good morning, Tony.”
He slid into the seat she had ready for him and immediately picked up the pen.
Morning routine at the office…
Pepper glanced down at the second hand on her watch. “Ready? And… Go.”
Tony started filling in the sudoku puzzle-his brain easily working out the numbers until all nine squares were filled in. “Done,” he announced.
Pepper grinned. “Thirteen seconds. You’re getting faster.”
Tony grinned and stole a spoonful of her yogurt. They stared at each other for a long moment.
“I meant it, you know,” he said as he pulled the spoon out of his mouth and handed it back to her.
Her eyes widened as she scooped up some more yogurt.
“Last night,” Tony rubbed at his chin. “I meant what I said. I need you to know that. You’re all I’ve got and all I need and…” he sighed and reached over to grasp her hands in his-placing the spoon in the cup of yogurt. “I do, you know. Love you.”
Pepper’s chin was quavering. She tightened her fingers around his and dropped her forehead onto his knuckles. Tony could literally feel her relief at hearing him say it again and he bent to kiss the top of her head.
“I’m glad you came over last night,” Pepper admitted. Tony heard the thick catch in her voice. “I don’t think I could have said anything if you hadn’t come over.”
Tony tipped her chin up and pressed his lips lightly against hers. It was an unusual sensation-kissing a woman he knew so well and had such a strong emotional connection to.
A very strong emotional connection.
He tilted his head an opened his mouth to gently run his tongue across the seam of her lips. He tasted peach yogurt and Maxwell House coffee and closed his eyes as he cupped her cheeks in his hands.
Emboldened in the comfort of her own breakfast nook, Pepper chased his tongue with hers and curled her fingers around the hair at the back of his neck.
Tony forgot how good kissing actually felt.
Coffee and yogurt was abandoned and the pair stumbled blindly into the living room. Tony gave up on walking Pepper backwards, wrapped one arm tightly around her thin waist, and just lifted her off her feet. She let out a surprised noise that reverberated through Tony’s molars.
He twisted around on the balls of his feet and twirled her so they’d land on her sofa. His hands ran along the silken skin behind her knees and Pepper grabbed his face and tilted his chin back as far as it would go-she poured her heart into kissing him. She wanted to brand her mouth to his and erase the sensation of any other woman’s kiss.
It worked.
Eventually, breathing became an issue and Tony moved his chin down to meet with her shoulder as he tried to fill his lungs. Pepper shivered when his beard scratched against her bared skin.
He tried to talk but had to clear a frog out of his throat to say anything. “Uh…”
“A little overwhelming?” Pepper guessed.
“Yu-huh,” he mumbled into her hair.
She pressed further into him and they slid sideways on the couch until she was straddling his abdomen. “I agree.”
Tony could not deny the fact that he was physically aching to be with her, but he did still have enough control to stop himself. He gently took her face in his hands and pressed a chaste kiss on her swollen lips. Her hand was clasped just to the right of the arc reactor and she could feel the frantic pounding of his heart.
“Tony?”
“Mm?”
“I’m kind of scared,” she slid her left leg between his thighs and draped herself across him much like she had the previous morning.
“Pepper?”
“What?”
Tony gently took her hand and kissed her fingers. “I’m kind of scared, too.”
They looked at each other and held onto the moment-one of very few they would be allowed to have to themselves.
TBC
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