Pepper lies awake, listening to the running water and Natasha's sweet voice. She hums along to the tune but her own voice seems like an intrusion – Pepper doesn't regard herself as much of a singer anyway – so she stops and she continues to listen. And she waits for Natasha just as her hand rises and falls on her belly with every breath she takes, every breath that she tries not to stifle herself with.

The pressure on her chest sort of hurts, the invisible weight a touch too great.

Lulled by her voice, Pepper thinks about Natasha, thinks about the way her hands lather soap all over her body, water streaming down the curves of her lithe form. Down her chest, between her breasts, drops of water just at the tips of her nipples until she moves her hand down and they fall to the cold tiled floor with silent splashes.

The weight on her chest feels heavier now; eyes closed, Pepper breathes deep, fingertips fleeting across her stomach as heat familiar and wet gathers between her thighs, and in Pepper's mind Natasha's there, all the way down there where Pepper likes it best, where Pepper needs it most.

She hears laughter, far away, like it's filtering through water; she feels a hot expulsion of breath upon her belly button, feels lips on bare skin. Pepper reaches down with her free hand, entangles her fingers in Natasha's wet hair.

"Having fun without me now, are you?"

"Just a little." Pepper opens her eyes, sees Natasha down there where she imagined Natasha would be, mouth hovering just a breath away. "You're too slow. I told you before to leave the make-up, didn't I? You look better without that ridiculous red lipstick anyway."

"You're just impatient." Natasha smirks and turns her head and nips the soft flesh of Pepper's inner thigh. Pepper feels the breath catch in her throat, Natasha's fingernails tracing shapes on her chest, feather-light. "What happened to our calm and collected Pepper?"

Natasha's soft laugh sends a shiver through Pepper, a burst of heat against goose-pimpled skin. Pepper reaches down, but Natasha seems to have other things in mind, climbing atop the bed so she's just above Pepper. Fresh out of the shower, Natasha's body seems to radiate warmth; beads of water trickle down her face, neck, chest – Pepper's eyes trail after a drop that slides along the smooth line of Natasha's toned belly, follows it down, down, down…

Natasha strokes her between the legs and Pepper tries not to think of how that feels.

"Well, you're a modest one." Natasha's skilled with her hands, be it in battle or in bed, and she knows it. Pepper wants to kiss away that smirk from Natasha's red, red lips; she wants those lips on her; she wants to feel Natasha's nails digging into her back, wants Natasha to pull her hair and whisper into her ear, Natasha's tongue deep inside her.

Pepper arches into Natasha's touch, lips parted and whispering her name.

Natasha leaves blood red kisses all over Pepper.

Natasha hums satisfaction.