billionaires | #inbox

He squeezes her harder when he feels that tremble, his vision coming back in patches as he slowly pulls back an inch to focus on her face. Wow, they're close. It makes it even harder to think than it already was, but that's his fault too.

"Can't really figure that one out, after all I've put you through, but I can't say I'm complaining." His eyes draw down to her lips and he holds his breath, heartrate spiking dangerously all over again.

Pepper shudders once more, though it's no longer completely due to any lingering fright. She wants to offer some protest to that, some retort or a scold or a wry quip, but she has none left, her heart giving a tiny flutter at the way he stares at her mouth. Her lips part a little on a tiny intake of breath.

"Are you okay?" she asks in such hushed tone it's nearly a whisper. Right now, she means, but the rest trails off under the sheer magnetism of his close proximity.

"Oh yeah," he answers too quick, but a warm smile follows it up. They're so close his beard brushes sharply against her smooth chin. "Never better." It's a bald-faced lie, but right now he can't even really regret it.

"Tony," she admonishes on a knee-jerk instinct, but softly and almost playfully-- for a moment, anyway, gasping at the brush of his beard against her skin. The contact only drives home all the more sharply just how close they are, teetering on the edge of some make-or-break moment yet again. Those were becoming increasingly more frequent, and Pepper isn't sure how to proceed, for all that her gaze dips down to his mouth in return. She knows she's attracted to him in a way that goes beyond their professional relationship, but is that enough reason to... well, to do anything about it?

Her fingers tighten on his shoulder, though she reasons she should probably pull back and break this stalemate they're caught in. "I should... get you a new plate," she whispers a little shakily, but makes no move to leave yet.

His smile twitches into something more playful in reaction to her tone, a jolt going straight through his middle at that gasp. He could close the distance and show her rather than tell her everything that's been on his mind, but again he hesitates just a microsecond too long.

"Oh, uh." Tony clears his throat and forces himself back another inch, noticing how equally reluctant she is to move. "Okay. I mean, thanks." His shoulders slump in defeat and he unwinds himself enough so that she can make a getaway.

If there's a flash of disappointment flickering across her expression, it's there only for a second before she draws away as well, slipping her hands from his shoulders while trying to tamp down on her reluctance. Forcing a smile, she shifts back on the couch and gets up, her own meal forgotten as she steps around the spilled food and pieces of broken plate.

And if she takes a few moments in the kitchen to take some deep breaths and calm herself down, well. Returning with a new plate and a a roll of paper towels, she hands Tony the plate with a soft "Here," and sets to clean up the spill. Thankfully, most of the mess landed on the hardwood floor and not the carpet in silence.

Tony lifts his feet up onto the couch so he's not in Pepper's way, feeling guilty even as he takes the plate from her with a tiny nod in thanks. Even now, she's far too good at taking care of him, and it only forces the words he should say further back down his throat.

"You're the best," he manages before quietly digging into his meal.

"So you keep claiming," she says a bit breezily in effort to return to the normal way of things as she wipes up the spills and carefully stacks pieces of plate on some more paper towels to take to the trash. She sucks in a breath through her teeth in a quiet hiss when a sharp shard of glass slices into her thumb despite her caution, harrumphing in annoyance and sucking on the digit to stem the bleeding.

That hiss immediately gets his attention and he frowns at the sight of blood on her hand. It's like a metaphor for their entire lives together: she keeps getting hurt because of his messes. It's time he ends the cycle.

"Hold on, don't move." He sets down his plate on the coffee table and carefully steps around the glass to head into the kitchen. It takes him a minute to find a trash bag and the first aid kit, but he manages before heading back. Tony kneels down to help her with the rest of the mess before guiding her back onto the couch and insisting on dealing with the cut himself, no matter how minor. He cleans the small wound and bandages it, reluctant to let go of her hand once it's done. Tony slowly meets her eyes as he tilts forward to kiss the tip of her finger. "Think you'll live?"

"You don't have to," she protests, but Tony's already gone. Sighing, she tears out a fresh paper towel from the roll and wraps it around the bleeding thumb for now. They make quick work of the remaining mess on the floor once Tony returns, and Pepper lets him herd her back to the couch, disinfect and bandage the cut-- though she insists (without much heat) he doesn't have to fuss. A shiver runs through her as his calloused fingers brush against her skin at his careful attention, almost gasping at the touch to her palm. She can't look away from his eyes when he kisses the bandaged digit.

"Maybe you should kiss it again," she murmurs after a beat. "Just to make sure."

"Yeah?" he challenges, turning her hand in his so his rough thumb runs the length of her lifeline. Keeping his eyes on hers, he leans forward again to brush his lips against the digit, this time moving in so he stays just as close even as he slowly pulls away. "Did that do the trick?"

She gives the softest noise, somewhere between a gasp and a whimper, at the drag of his thumb across the sensitive skin, eyelids fluttering a little. Her mouth goes dry and she wets her lips with the tip of her tongue unconsciously, something inexplicably sensual about this it's stealing her breath. Her hands are apparently more sensitive than she'd ever realized, or maybe it's just Tony.

"Y-yeah," she gets out, shakily. "That's... good."

That sound affects him deeply, igniting an electrical pulse deep within his belly. Their eyes catch just right, and he can't stop it— what happens next. He convinces himself it was her who broke the dam by kissing him that first time, but this is entirely his choice and it shows in the painstaking care he takes with her now. His free hand goes to the side of her face, gently gripping before he moves in, close enough to breathe the same air. Here goes nothing. Except she's his whole world, and if he screws this up... But he can't think that way, he can't think at all as their lips collide, a firmer point of contact than he'd calculated though he quickly adjusts for both of their comfort, leaning back just a little even as a desperation enters the kiss - something hungry and unsatiated that they've both been staving off giving into.

"Is this weird?" he asks suddenly, already trying to catch his breath after the brief, but heated touch of their lips spins him out. "It's weird, right?"

He telegraphs his intentions so obviously she has all the time in the world to pull back if she wants to, to put a stop to this-- but that's the last thing she wants, content to be carried away by the wave of wanting that overtakes her, breath catching faintly as his other hand gently cups the side of her face. She can't look away from him, those beautiful brown eyes always swimming with emotion, and then his lips are on hers; even the minute roughness at first only serves to turn her bones into jelly, loosing a tiny moan into the kiss as it gains ardor.

"I don't think it's weird," she whispers breathlessly, gripping his hand while her other blindly grasps his thigh for support, a soft, almost lambent look in her heavy-lidded eyes as they're drawn back down to his mouth.

Her moan has the hair raising on the back of his neck, his mouth opening in a pant when she grabs onto him like that - like they can't get close enough; like she doesn't want to let go. Tony nudges his nose against hers, trying to calm himself some though all his body wants to do is take things to the next level. Pepper isn't like any other woman he's been with, he can't rush this, and he's sure she feels the hesitation in his bones.

"Oh, good. 'Cause I don't think it's weird. I was just checking." His voice sounds much huskier than it did even a moment ago and finally he gives in, resting his face against hers and taking a few measured breaths.

She doesn't want to let go, she realizes soon. Now that they've stepped over the line in the sand they've respected up until now (occasional toeing of said line notwithstanding), it feels impossible to go back; equally as difficult to pretend this didn't happen, that it wasn't something they walked into knowingly. No, this can't be explained away as a fluke, like the previous kiss maybe could be.

Pepper breathes a faintest of laughs at his retort, closing her eyes when he pushes his face against hers, their foreheads pressing together in a gesture that soothing and intimate at the same time. She can't quite quell the little quiver running through her at the husky rumble of his voice; it makes her want to run her fingers along his bare chest to chase the vibrations.

"Are you sure?" Her voice has dipped into a lower register as well, a breathy edge to it. "Maybe we should..." Her lips brush against the corner of his when she talks, a sharp little gasp escaping at the light scratch of his beard against her skin. "...Doublecheck."

He's beginning to smooth out, accepting the moment for what it is, before her question sends him spiraling. The follow-up is worse, and the way she trails off has him scared. Tony pulls his face back sharply, opening his mouth to ask or tell or maybe just panic, there are no words in his head but he'd been about to speak anyway, a common practice for him by now. But then her one-word follow-up crashes through and all he can do is huff out a laugh. This isn't rejection or regret as he'd initially assumed the first time they kissed, and he finds himself nodding along easily to the suggestion.

"You want me to... run that by you again?" he confirms, carefully tangling their fingers in a lifeline and smoothly swooping in. Tony catches her eyes briefly before they shut tightly, brushing his lips against hers a few times to get it right before closing the deal. It's the most passionate kiss he's ever been apart of, every nerve ending singing at the prospect of finally being this close to her. Tony chases that feeling, kissing her more and more deeply until he can't bring air into his lungs.

Their earlier kiss didn't end in rejection or regret either, just... confusion. But moot point, she's hardly thinking about that now despite Tony's semi-freak out she could hardly not notice.

"Yes, please," she says sweetly with a smile that gets smothered against Tony's lips, humming lowly from her throat at the pleasure of it. She stops thinking entirely -- a rare thing for her -- and for once just lets herself feel, allowing these feelings to overtake her. She kisses him back with equal passion, a hunger she can no longer deny in every move. She shifts closer without taking her lips off his, the hand on his thigh slinging around his shoulders instead as she ends up nearly in his lap, pressing flush against his front. Her other hand squeezes his hand while the other lifts off his shoulder to twine her fingers in his hair, sighing into the heady kiss.

It feels right in the way nothing else ever has.

He moans when she surrounds him, his skin feeling hot in the wake of her touch. There's no hesitation this time as he presses back into her, unable to fight the imperative of his body and heart both where Pepper Potts is concerned. One of his hands goes to her waist to stabilize, but before long he has to pull back to breathe again.

"How can oxygen be so vital and yet so... so inconvenient?" he manages breathily, nudging against her cheek with his nose before brushing their mouths together again, feeling like he could very easily fall into a pattern of this all night. He sighs against her lips when she tugs her fingers into his hair, urgency nipping at his belly that he's already ignoring as much as it threatens to take him over. He doesn't need a quick fix with her, they can take their time, and that's what he really wants anyway. Though he does lean back into the sofa so he can guide her into straddling his lap less awkwardly, shivering as their lower bodies collide.

She responds with a soft moan of her own at the way he presses back against her, feeling the warmth of his hand on her waist even through her shirt. She chuckles at his words when they draw back to breathe, chest heaving against his. She lets go of his hand to cradle his jaw gently, trading soft kisses with him for a moment that are so sweet and loving it fills her heart up with emotion to the brim. She breathes a sharp little gasp as he leans back and shifts her, her pulse racing and heat flooding her cheeks at the way their bodies align so intimately, her thighs cradling his hips as she settles her weight carefully on him.

"Hi," she murmurs for lack of better things to say, brushing her nose against his and dropping another slow, lingering kiss on his lips.

"Hey," he lets out in a shuddering breath, his other hand falling to her arm when she lets go. He returns her ardor, though somehow he seems to slow with each moment that goes on, rather than speeding up. Tony wants to draw this out as much as he can, but it's no mystery what keeps stopping him.

Finally, he grinds to a halt altogether, squeezing her upper arm and imploring her to look his way.

"Pepper, I..." He swallows the bile carrying dread back down his throat and shakes his head. The words aren't coming any more readily now than they were before and now he just regrets stopping their moment. "—Sorry."

The tiny smile on her slightly swollen lips gives way to a more attentive expression when he puts a stop to the proceedings, her thumb stroking along his jawline gently. When he seems to have such trouble saying what's on his mind, a little frown wrinkles her brow, a prickle of concern nipping at her.

"Don't be sorry," she murmurs softly, carding her fingers through his hair soothingly. "Is something wrong? You can tell me anything."

That feels way too nice, there's no way he can think while she does that, so instead he lets his head fall to her shoulder.

"Apparently not," he commentates, frustrated with himself and with this situation, but being close to her is balm enough to make it worth it. "Just ignore me being a spaz, your thing was better."

Tony picks his face back up and moves in for another kiss, this one more vulnerable than any of the lead-ins.

She hugs him close when he rests his head on her shoulder, still stroking his hair with one hand. She's getting more and more concerned about him now, but before she can say anything to convey that worry, he lifts his head and kisses her again.

It's a soft and gentle kiss with something terribly hesitant and vulnerable to it, his lips trembling against hers. It makes her heart squeeze in her chest.

"Tony, please," she whispers when they pull apart for breath, cradling his face tenderly in her hands so she can look him in the eyes. "Tell me what's wrong. How can I help?"

He's never felt so cared for in his life and it only makes it harder to say what he needs to say. Tony clings to her waist as if hearing this might make her flee and he wants to stop her preemptively.

"This thing... I thought about this all day, how I was gonna tell you. But now that you're here, and I'm here, and we..." Tony rubs his nose against hers and stays close, the noise of the TV filtering back in as he steadily gains speed. "You've already done so much for me. I just don't want to hold you back." Or put her in even more danger when she could escape scot-free.

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