Fandom:
Iron Man (movieverse)
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Tony/Pepper
Summary: The thrill of the chase...
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, 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.
This one could be considered a prequel to Mnemosyne's Lock, but it
doesn't have to be. Written for Cincoflex,
who graciously let me post it! Also, many thanks to agilebrit
and the Tony/Pepper
LJ community for answering my question about that
car...
NOTE: This story
includes role-playing with themes that may be uncomfortable for some
readers. Please read responsibly.
*********
“Eight...seven...”
Tony stalked forward, not moving too quickly yet. Judging
from the little he’d seen of the game, pursuit
didn’t really start until the countdown finished.
Ahead of him, Pepper fled further into his workshop, her feet almost
soundless on the smooth floor. “This
isn’t fair!” she yelled back over her shoulder, and
he could hear the laughter in her voice.
“You’re faster than I am.”
That wasn’t strictly true--her legs were longer--but it was
his ground, so to speak. “Six, five, four, three,
two, one, suck it up, Potts,” he shouted back, grinning, and
picked up his pace. Pepper was halfway to the far end of the
long room, and Tony anticipated a relatively short chase--she
couldn’t outdistance him, and she couldn’t go to
ground without him seeing her do it.
Of course, the same pretty much applied to him. The next
round would probably be brief as well, though he might be able to keep
away long enough to frustrate her--
“Jarvis, lights off,” Pepper called, and suddenly
the room went dark. Tony skidded to a halt.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust. The workshop
wasn’t pitch black; various of the screens and displays were
glowing, enough to pick out reflections here and there from metal
surfaces. And of course--Tony glanced down--his chest piece
was its usual beacon. But the game had just been kicked up a
notch, and the anticipation that curled in his belly was a little more
primal than a lighthearted game of Tag.
“Jarvis,” Tony commanded softly, “lock
all exits and do not release without my order, barring
emergency.” A beep and a series of clicks told him
his instructions were being followed. He raised his
voice. “I was just going to make you forfeit a
kiss, Potts, but you just raised the stakes.”
Her voice echoed back from somewhere ahead of him.
“Big words, Stark. I can see you
coming.”
“Not for long,” he muttered, grinning, and pulled
off his sleeveless t-shirt. “Not for
long.”
Pepper crouched behind a storage cabinet and peeked over the edge,
wondering what Tony was doing and just what she’d gotten
herself into. She’d been a little embarrassed to be
caught playing with Butterfingers, but obviously Tony hadn’t
minded, and now--
Now the game had suddenly gotten a lot more intense. Pepper
smiled in the dark, watching the blue-white glow that was
Tony’s arc implant wavering halfway down the room. This isn’t Tag any
more...it’s Hide and Seek.
And Pepper was very good at hiding.
A ripping sound reached her ears, and then the light
disappeared. Apparently Tony had decided to enter stealth
mode, and Pepper mentally wrote off another of his tops--not that he
was generally kind to them anyway.
Reaching under her skirt, Pepper peeled off her pantyhose.
Bare feet would give her better traction, and besides, they were
new. I’m
bound to bump into something in the dark. I’d
rather not put a run in them.
After a moment’s thought, she pulled off her jacket and laid
it aside as well, neatly folded on top of the cabinet. The
game with Butterfingers had warmed her up, and without the extra fabric
she would be that much more quiet.
Now--
Thinking fast, Pepper reconstructed the workshop’s layout in
her mind. Tony was prone to moving things around, but she had
an excellent visual memory and her eyes were beginning to make use of
what little light was available. --I can’t stay
here.
With care, she straightened and stepped to the side. Tony was
no doubt on his way to where he’d seen her last, and Pepper
had no intention of being anywhere near the spot when he reached
it. Sliding her feet along the floor, she edged out from
behind the cabinet and aimed for the shelter of a generator she
remembered nearby.
From somewhere back towards the stairs, there came a clonk and a
curse. Pepper grinned, and slipped past the generator, taking
care to make no sound. Tony was closer than she had expected,
but he’d just given away his position.
Moving slowly, she edged in his general direction, trying to place
herself so that he would pass by on the other side of one of the long
workbenches. The best way to play this game was to do the
unexpected, and while outthinking Tony Stark was a tall order,
she’d had a lot of practice. And she
didn’t think he would expect her to come right back towards
him.
Tony’s feet were bare too, but she heard the slightest
slapping sounds as they hit the floor, and froze, one hand on the edge
of the workbench. He was moving faster than she, but not by
much, and Pepper wondered what he’d tripped over
earlier. She waited, planning to move again as soon as he was
past, straining her senses to pinpoint his location.
Unfortunately, he stopped.
Pepper held her breath.
“I can smell you, Pepper.” His voice was
quiet, confident, pitched in that low register that he knew turned her
insides liquid. “I know you’re
here. Hold still for me, and I’ll go easy on
you...”
Pepper felt her pulse jump, and drew in a long slow breath, her face
heating. She could just picture the absolutely wicked smile
on his face, the promise that he always fulfilled and that left her
overwhelmed and sated. The stakes had gone up again, and
delight and apprehension thrilled through her veins. Not on your life,
Stark.
Widening her eyes, she let her very skin feel for his
presence. Her peripheral vision caught the faintest glow, a
yard away and just behind her left shoulder, and she knew where he
was.
So when he braced a hand on the workbench and vaulted over it, she was
already on the floor and sliding underneath
the bench to the other side. Objects in Tony’s path
clattered and rattled, covering the sound of her scrabble out, and
Pepper leapt to her feet and went back the way she’d
originally come, as fast as was safe. Behind her, Tony
chuckled.
“You can run, and you can hide, but not forever,
Pepper,” he said, sounding amused and intent.
“I will
find you.”
Pepper laughed, knowing he would hear it, and veered off towards his
car collection.
Tony smiled in the dark. He hadn’t had so much fun
in months,
and they were just getting started. Every nerve in his body
was alert, tuned to the elusive traces of Pepper that came to him
through the cool air, and his focus drew in until he almost thought he
could see into the infra-red, as if he could catch the very heat of her
with his nearly useless eyes.
As it was, there was at least one pair of night-sight goggles in a
drawer somewhere, but Tony disdained the thought. This was
just between the two of them, instincts and reflexes and
mind-to-mind--though he had every intention of making it body-to-body
as soon as he caught his wayward lover. In fact--
“Jarvis, shut the ‘bots down and put yourself on
recall only.” There would be no technological
advantage for either of them now, and Jarvis would only respond if an
emergency code were spoken first. The AI complied with a
triple tone that Tony knew Pepper would hear and understand. It’s just you and me
now, sweetheart.
He stalked forward, moving with slow assurance. He
didn’t know where Pepper was at the moment, but he was
confident that he could track her down, and while her responses were
fast, his were faster.
All he had to do was get within arm’s reach.
His body was coming alive with the promise of the fruit of this
hunt. Appallingly primitive, Tony acknowledged in the privacy
of his thoughts, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel any
regret. The laughter that had trailed back to him had told
him that Pepper was up for this, and he wasn’t
surprised. She had a vivid imagination and a willingness to
experiment that never failed to delight him.
And right now,
she’s prey.
Pepper had to be somewhere ahead of him; she wouldn’t have
lingered after evading his first grab. No, she would be
searching for a place to conceal herself, a spot to hole up safely and
wait as he blundered past. And her ideal hiding spot would be
a place he
wouldn’t consider for some reason. Too small, too narrow...not too
high, I don’t think she’ll risk climbing in the
dark.
Under one of the cars, maybe. Not in, he didn’t
think; she couldn’t open a door without noise, and the open
convertibles were too obvious. Tony made his way towards the
garage end of the room, only bumping into a couple of things on the
way.
The second time he hit something, though, a stifled giggle reached his
ears, and Tony halted, eyes flicking back and forth although there was
almost nothing to see. The sound had come from further left
than he’d expected. Not the cars, then.
Terminal One?
His main programming area had a little more light thanks to the
glass-fronted minifridge in the kitchen area. He’d
assumed that Pepper would avoid it for just that reason, and now
silently cursed himself for the mistake. She’s good.
He prowled in that direction, cocking his ears for any sound of
movement. As far as he could make out, the box formed by his
tables and desk was empty of life, but it was also full of projects and
junk, and it was hard to pick out shapes, let alone detail. One of these days I really have
to get organized, Tony thought absently, but it was an old
thought and easily pushed aside. He tugged on the strip of
cloth he’d torn from his shirt hem and wound around his
chest, making sure it wasn’t slipping, and added a mental
note to design a cover for his arc implant. You never know when
you’ll have to sneak around in the dark--
He halted again, raising his chin and breathing in. Yes,
there it was, the faint sweet hint of perfume and aroused
woman. Oh,
she’s close.
Grinning to himself, Tony considered, and then moved.
Pepper peered around the armor that was hanging on the edge of
Tony’s workspace, biting her lip. The giggle had
clearly been a mistake; he was homing in on her with frightening
accuracy. His face was barely visible, but she still caught
the gleam of teeth.
“I know you’re here, Pepper,” Tony
repeated, almost purring. “I’m going to
catch you, and when I do there will be no getting away from
me.”
He chuckled, still moving slowly forward, and she strangled a moan,
because usually the only time she heard that sound was when he had her
pinned under him in bed. “You’re
mine,” he went on, low and sure. “And
you’ll know it.”
Part of her was smiling at his words, because while Tony was the possessive
type--witness his years of messing up her dating opportunities--he also
respected her, and would keep this sort of thing within the boundaries
of the game. But the rest of her was quivering, because she
knew that at the moment he meant them quite sincerely. And
the urge to run out there and tackle him was not quite as imperative as
the desire to run away.
Tony came closer still. He hadn’t quite spotted
her, Pepper thought, but he would in a moment, and then--
It was a good thing she’d thought ahead.
Pepper lifted her right arm behind the shield of the armor, and made a
gentle overhand toss. The small bolt she’d picked
up from one of the workbenches sailed invisibly over the armor and over
Tony’s head, and clinked against something on his other
side.
Tony started and spun away from her, taking a few quick steps in that
direction, and in that second Pepper darted away, back towards the
cars. She had to sacrifice silence for speed, and heard him
curse and turn back, but she made an abrupt left and knew that he
couldn’t see where she’d gone. She slowed
and crept forward, ducking behind the frozen form of Dummy and risking
a pause.
A scent cut through the metal-and-concrete odor of the garage, one she
recognized--male sweat and Tony’s cologne. It had
the particular musky richness that told her he was as aroused as she,
and Pepper shivered pleasurably. She didn’t know
how much longer she could evade him, but either way the ending of the
game was likely to be...interesting.
Tony was still somewhere between the cars and his primary
workspace. Pepper tiptoed away from Dummy, making for the
last car in the row, which happened to be her own Audi. Too bad I can’t get
the trunk open without making a noise.
Lowering herself to the floor, Pepper slid towards the vehicle, only to
find that it was too low. If she’d been in danger
of her life, she could probably have wedged herself underneath, but not
without the risk of snagging her hair or clothes on the
undercarriage. Grimacing, she levered herself back up and
made for the next car, trying to remember which one it was.
The cool curve of metal under her fingertips told her--it was the
roadster. Pepper dropped back down and pulled herself into
its shadow, knowing there was a comfortable two inches between her
backside and the car, and rested her head on her folded arms.
Tony couldn’t sneak up on her here; she would hear him
coming.
But he didn’t come. In fact, there was no sound at
all aside from the intermittent low hums of the air conditioning and
other equipment, and Pepper shifted a little against the smooth
concrete as the minutes passed. She was getting chilled, and
she began to wonder if Tony had given up, walked away because he
couldn’t bear to lose--
A new noise broke the hush, a hollow, continuous rattle that seemed to
be drawing rapidly closer. Pepper tensed. What on earth--
It was coming from the left, advancing down the row of cars, and
suddenly she knew what it was. With a silent curse Pepper
slid back out from under the roadster, springing to her feet and
dashing forward just as the maintenance creeper rolled beneath the
car.
Thinking rapidly, she held very still. If Tony thought she
wasn’t under the cars at all--
The slowing creeper reached her Audi, which abruptly gave off its
proximity warning beep, flashing its lights three times.
Pepper flinched and bolted--
She got about four yards before hard arms wrapped around her.
“Gotcha,”
Tony said.
Tony almost shouted in triumph when his ploy worked. His prey
was caught, lithe and struggling in his arms, and he tightened his
grip, keeping her flailing arms pinned at her sides and leaning in to
nose at her hair. “I win,” he breathed
into her ear, unbearably turned on by her thrumming heartbeat and the
way she writhed against him.
Pepper made a high-pitched noise that combined panic and
arousal. Tony rubbed his face against her throat and grabbed
one wrist, not letting her pull away, but kept his grip light; he
didn’t want to bruise her. He was perfectly aware
that if she really wanted to escape all she had to do was jerk up one
knee, but just to be on the safe side he snagged her other wrist and
yanked her to him, nose to nose.
“Pepper?” He made it a hoarse
question. The scent of her was driving him wild, but he had
just enough self-control left--
She bit his lower lip--gently. Tony took it as acquiescence,
and took her mouth with his own, absorbing her moan with great
satisfaction. Pepper jerked at his grip without success, and
he backed her into the roadster and pressed her down against its
hood.
“Mine,” he muttered against her throat, and pulled
her arms over her head, wrapping one hand around her wrists to hold
them in place and using the other to pop the buttons off her
blouse. They rattled away, and he flipped open the front
catch of her bra and dropped his mouth to the satin curve
beneath.
Pepper gasped, arching up against him, and Tony growled against her
warm skin and put more of his weight on her, rubbing his mustache over
her breast until he found her nipple, stiff and irresistible.
Suckling it produced a whimper that made him push a leg between hers,
and Tony scrabbled impatiently at her skirt with his free hand, yanking
up the hem so he could spread her legs wider. Pepper tugged
at his grip on her wrists, again unsuccessfully, and he bit her nipple
lightly.
She moaned again, and as Tony’s hand skated up to her hip he
realized with a shock that she had nothing on under the skirt at
all.
It wasn’t that she’d never been this turned on
before, Pepper thought dazedly, it was that it had never held quite
this dark edge, this particular helpless excitement. Tony had
her spread out between his body and the roadster, and while Pepper knew
she could get away from him if she had to, she didn’t want to.
Instead she struggled and shoved and felt Tony use his superior
strength to hold her down and torment her, and loved every second of
it.
His mouth on her breasts, nipping and tickling, was making it very hard
to think, but Pepper retained enough awareness to take note when he
discovered that she’d removed her pantyhose. The
sound he made was pure male anticipation, and he lifted his head to
capture her mouth again, a move that pressed his hips into
hers. Pepper whimpered and squirmed, kicking, and his free
hand clamped over her ankle, then let it go to tear at the fastening of
his slacks.
He was mumbling against her skin in between licks, curses and promises,
and Pepper twisted underneath him. Tony leaned more heavily,
and she felt his pants drop away as her calf slid past his
hip. “Told you,” he growled, teeth
denting the join of her neck and shoulder. “Told
you I’d catch you--”
His arousal was pressing against her stomach, hot and hard, and his
weight left her little room to move. Pepper wriggled as best
she could, biting back words lest she spoil the game. She
couldn’t see anything, and all the rest of her senses were
drowning in him, most especially touch--cold metal warming against her
back, soft cloth and rough hair and hot mouth all over her front--she
gasped as he found her nipple once more, and then again when his hand
slid between her legs.
Tony groaned, his fingers caressing her slick flesh with a touch that
knew her all too well. Pepper couldn’t stop herself
from pressing into his hand, desperate for more, and the roll of his
thumb made her jerk.
“Oh yeah,” he breathed, and shifted, and thrust all
the way into her in one hard push.
Pepper cried out, knees drawing up at the sharp goodness of it, and
Tony grabbed her ankle again, sliding his hand up to her hip as he set
a slow, grinding pace. She wrapped her legs around his waist,
which only sent him deeper, and shuddered. Tony kissed her
hard, biting lightly, taking possession in a way he’d never
done before. Both his hands were on her wrists now, spreading
her arms on the roadster’s hood.
Pepper heard herself moaning. Every thrust wound her tighter,
poured pleasure through her body until she could no longer
think. She was owned and owning, victim and victor all at
once, overwhelmed with the taste and sensation of Tony against her and
in her. She trembled as he moved, rubbing against her, making
her feel every bit of him--stroking her inside and out, exquisite and
inescapable--
The ecstasy froze her, whiting everything out in an explosion of bliss
so intense she couldn’t breathe. It roared through
her like a storm, and Pepper soared.
He’d never heard her scream like that before, and the primal
part of Tony’s mind bared its teeth in triumph at the spasms
that had Pepper shaking underneath him, every muscle drawn
taut. He drove himself into her over and over, unable to
stop, feeling the electricity gathering at the base of his
spine. She was perfect, she was Pepper, she was his--
He threw back his head as the lightning took him, and it was her name
that broke from his lips.
Eventually Tony regained enough muscle control to lift himself off of
Pepper. She groaned as he did, and he flinched.
“Pepper?”
“Mmm?” Her voice was thick and pleased,
and Tony let out his held breath. He fumbled at his shirt
with hands that were still shaking slightly, and managed to unknot the
strip of cloth he’d bound over his arc implant. The
light made them both squint and blink.
Pepper looked...ravished. Her lips were swollen and her skin
reddened from his beard, and he could see the aftermath of his bites
all over her throat and breasts. She was limp against the
car, arms still half-outstretched, and the only thing that was keeping
her from sliding off the hood was his thigh between her legs.
He cursed himself. “Did I hurt you? You
look--”
She smiled, slow and and blissful, and raised her hands, cupping his
head and pulling him down. “Stop it,
Stark,” she said, and kissed him, equally slowly.
“I’m fine. I’m wonderful.”
“That you are,” Tony managed when he could
speak. Kicking away his slacks, he gathered her carefully
into his arms and turned towards the couch.
“Jarvis, gemel eleven zeta prime. Half-light,
please,” Pepper said, her voice still throaty. The
triple tone sounded and the lights came on dimly.
“Don’t want you to trip,” she added to
Tony.
He snickered. “Don’t you trust me,
Potts?”
Her hand stroked his face. “Not if your legs feel
like mine do.”
Tony had to admit she had a point, though he didn’t say so
out loud. The couch was a welcome goal, and he sank down into
it, stretching out, feeling the leather cool against his backside and
not caring at all. Pepper draped herself over him, and while
she didn’t actually make any noise, he got the distinct
impression that she was purring.
“That was...intense,” he said finally, still
feeling somewhat guilty for being so rough.
“Yes it was,” she agreed, smirking gently, and
lifted her head from his chest to look him in the eye.
“We should try it again sometime.”
That
popped the bubble of guilt, and started up a number of delightful
ideas. “Yeah?” Tony leaned up
and kissed her gently. “Just think how much fun it
would be if I had both
hands free.”
Pepper ran her hand up his side, making him twitch at the
tickle. “Hey, it’s my turn next
time.”
“I won’t argue with that.” Tony
slipped his fingers into her hair, and she put her head back down with
a sigh.
He let his eyes close. “Now I’m wondering
what you’re like at Twister.”
“Tony--”
He laughed, and kissed her again.
End.
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