I'm so sorry for the long delay. I know it took me forever to finish this off but here's the last chapter of this little piece. Thanks a lot for your reviews and enjoy the last part.

Cheers.

(vii)

She couldn't believe she was actually letting him do this. Of course, Tony Stark had something quite disarming about him that made you sometimes do things his way. Besides that it probably didn't help that he knew how much she felt for him and was mostly unable to resist him because they had been dating for a few months now. However, Pepper had always been professional, had always behaved appropriately and therefore it rebelled against every ounce in her that she was actually doing this.

"I can't believe I'm letting you screw me in here," she groaned between kisses, making Tony chuckle in response.

"I'm not screwing you. We're just doing a monkey version of making love," he muttered against her throat.

Oh dear, the sap.

"Besides, I hate to break it to you, honey, but it was actually you who dragged me in here a minute ago."

And damn it if he wasn't right about that. She had done that. They were on a charity gala and while they weren't exactly the main attraction, Tony was still a person of public interest. Therefore, dragging him into the restroom by his tie to have her wicked way with him on the sink wasn't exactly the brightest idea.

Yet, Tony was anything but complaining and she couldn't find it in herself to stop either because he looked too handsome to eat tonight. He wasn't wearing his usual flashy tux but a piece that was a little more subtle and he'd changed his usual sneakers for a pair of business shoes. He looked handsome, hot and professional and Pepper just didn't know what to do with her raging hormones.

She let out a groan as his warm, rough hands found the underside of her creamy thighs and picked her up so that she was seated on the sink and he could step in between her legs. Her mouth found his again and their tongues duelled while her clever fingers impatiently found his fly.

"Drop your pants," she growled into his lips, making Tony moan as her fingers found him in his boxers.

"This is so hot, Pep."

And it was. While their sex life wasn't exactly unadventureous she had never agreed to this kind of kinky, not to mention that she had never instigated anything like that before. Yet, she couldn't help but agree that this was indeed hot because to be honest, sex with Tony always was. While she never liked to think about the countless women he'd been with before her, she also realized the amount of sex gave him a certain experience he always put to a good use. Or maybe they were just so good together.

His goatee kept rubbing deliciously over her sensitive skin and Pepper felt her insides tighten in response. He was just so freakishly good at this and he knew perfectly well when and where and how to touch her in order to drive her wild.

Tony's rough fingers crept up her thigh, slipping under the hem and inching higher until they found the edge of her panties. Impatiently, Pepper groaned and he chuckled against her lips.

"What's with you tonight? Not that I'm complaining."

She shrugged while her left hand quickly found his and moved it where she wanted it the most. "I just want you. Right now."

"I noticed, honey," Tony said and then he bend down to kiss her again, sucking and licking and letting his lips wander down to her collarbone and the upper flesh of her breasts. Her breathing was harsh and in pants and Pepper had already all but forgotten about where they currently were.

How did he do that?

She moved her hips forward until she was seated on the very edge of the sink and Tony finally got the hint. It didn't take long until the both of them were leaning helplessly against each other, both breathing heavily and with their legs wobbly, but feeling happily sated.

"I can't believe that just happened," she muttered against his skin, but let out a giggle because she was still on somewhat of a high and her brain had not caught up yet.

"Move in with me."

She froze against him, her cloud suddenly all but forgotten and her brain very much back in function. "What?"

"Move in with me," Tony repeated against her sweaty temple and the movement of his lips while he spoke felt like a caress. He did that sometimes. Speaking against her skin or her hair, mostly when they were in bed or on his couch and Pepper loved these moments. During the last few months for which they had been dating, these moments had become a lot more frequent than one might expect them to, considering Tony Stark was one of the two people in the relationship. Yet, while they went out often enough, mostly to work related outings but sometimes even on actual dates, Pepper knew Tony loved their quiet moments more. And she did, too. So far, Tony had turned out to be quite date-able. If that was even a word. On the other hand it wasn't exactly new to invent new words while describing Tony Stark, was it? Of course he was acting rather stupidly and over the top from time to time but mostly he was just perfect and Pepper was so in love with him it probably wasn't healthy anymore.

Not that she cared.

"I heard you the first time," she replied delayed.

"Great. So move in with me."

She rolled her eyes and pushed a little against his chest so he would step back and look at her. "Tony, we've only been dating for a few months and you have neither been in a stable relationship before nor have you ever lived with someone. This is a pretty big step."

He shrugged and eyed her calmly. "So? You're spending most nights at my house anyway."

"Yes, but there's always the possibility of going home and besides that I don't always spend it in your bed. Often enough you fall asleep on your desk down in the shop and I go up into my room."

"Which is stupid, by the way. You could just go into my room. Why do you insist on doing that anyway?"

"I just told you why. Because we've only been dating shortly."

"Shortly? That's the longest, most intense thing I've ever had with a woman," Tony replied disbelievingly but Pepper slid down from the sink and started rightening her clothes.

"Precisely. Now, get dressed and let's get out of here before someone actually catches us."

He sighed. "Yes, ma'am."

She should have known this wouldn't be the end of it.

She was insanely tired. Even traveling in Tony's very perfect private jet didn't make attending meetings all over the world in a matter of four days any less exhausting. Therefore, when she landed in L.A. again on Wednesday night all Pepper wanted to do was climb into her bed and sleep until Sunday. Not that she would do that, she was way too professional for that but at least she would get seven hours of sleep until she had to be back in the mansion to go over the meetings with Tony and later on with the board at SI.

Happy had just picked her up from the airport and was driving her to her apartment. From time to time he send her a smile until he finally spoke.

"You know, Tony's been pretty annoying without you around. He was lost like a puppy. A pretty funny sight actually."

Pepper grinned tiredly. "I'm sure he probably didn't leave the shop."

But instead of laughing and agreeing with her, Happy nervously averted his gaze and Pepper was instantly alerted.

"What aren't you telling me, Happy? What did he do? Did he get beaten up again?"

Happy winced. "Please don't make me tell you." His eyes were still not meeting hers but Pepper wouldn't be Pepper if she weren't going to pry every little detail right out of him.

"Happy, tell me now. I'm serious."

The driver sighed. "Fine. He went on a mission the second night and got beaten up, but not too badly so don't worry. I went there yesterday morning to check up on him and couldn't find him at first. Turned out he went straight into your room and slept there. Last night, too."

Something warm washed over her and squeezed her heart until she could barely breathe. Tony was just so-

"I guess what I'm saying is that he really, really missed you, Pepper. Even if you were only away for three nights."

While it wasn't exactly new for Happy that they were dating, not even that Tony was very serious about her, Pepper couldn't help but blush. It was stupid and ridiculous but she couldn't help it. The intensity of what Happy was saying was making her almost nauseous. Her heart started beating faster and too late she realized she should probably give some kind of reply.

"I missed him too," she said belatedly.

Happy laughed. "Really? I'd think you'd enjoy your free time for the time being. I sure as hell do on my days off."

She grinned a little but didn't say anything. Interestingly, she'd really meant it. She had missed Tony. Of course she had. And while she'd known for a long time that she was in love with him and had also told him so on more than one occassion suddenly things felt far more serious than they ever had before.

"He asked me to move in with him," she suddenly let out quietly, not really sure what made her tell Happy in the first place.

His eyes were still glued to the street, so he didn't look her way but merely nodded in response. "Makes sense. Will you? Move in with him, I mean."

She bit her lip and looked down on her hands. "I don't know. I mean I guess that's where we're probably headed but it's only been a few months and he's never done this before."

Happy sighed a little. "Pepper, I know I was a little weirded out at the beginning but I know he's pretty serious about this. Actually, I know that for a fact."

Confused, she looked at him. "What's that mean?"

His eyes widened and he quickly refocused on the street. "Nothing. Really. I'm just saying moving in together is just the next logical step in my book. You guys are perfect for each other. So why the resistance?"

She didn't know why. Ever since he came up with the living together thing and she had all but told him no she had been wondering why she hadn't just agreed. Objectively speaking her arguments were ridiculous. Tony and her hadn't been strangers before they started dating. She had already known him for a decade and they knew each other inside and out. And while it might be true that he had never been in a real relationship before she knew where he saw them heading. After all, he had flat out told her months ago right before they'd had their first night together. So why was she resisting?

"Want to know what I think?", Happy suddenly quietly asked, effectively cutting right through her train of thoughts. "I think you are afraid. Afraid that he'll change his mind."

Tears started pooling in her eyes and she quickly brushed them away while her heart beat hard in her chest. "What if he does?", she whispered. She wouldn't be able to stomach that. She loved Tony Stark with all her heart, had done so for so long, and now that she was so close she was terrified of losing it again.

Happy smiled at her. "He won't, trust me. Trust him."

She swallowed hard. Could she actually do this?

Seriously? What the hell?

The night had already been emotional enough, she really wasn't in the mood for this kind of crap. Angrily, she took out her phone to call her landlord.

"Good evening," she greeted once he had taken the call, "it's Virgina Potts. Something is wrong with either the lock on my apartment door or my key because I can't open the door."

"Uh," the guy said tiredly, "lady you do realize you don't live here anymore, right?

Confused, she frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Your rich billionaire boyfriend had all your stuff moved today and I already rented the apartment out to someone else."

Barely able to contain her rage, she cried, "You can't just allow someone into my home and take all my belongings. What kind of crappy landlord are you?"

The guy laughed at the other end of the line. "Lady, it wasn't 'someone'. I know for a fact you're dating him. It's been all over the news. And besides he gave me a whole lot of money."

Beyond angry, Pepper rushed into the mansion only thirty minutes later. She was definitely going to give him a piece of her mind. If she wasn't so mad right now she might even find it funny that Tony had the capacity to have her swoon over him one minute and ready to kill him the next.

"Stark!", she snapped loudly. The douche was probably down in his shop tinkering and giggling because of his oh-so-funny prank.

To her surprise he suddenly appeared right next to her.

"Hey Pep," he greeted and while he must definitely have noticed the anger on her face, he apparently decided to ignore it. Instead, he quickly closed the distance between them, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

Deeply, passionately and so intensely that for a moment, Pepper was too surprised and too overcome by both him and her own feelings that she forgot how mad she was and kissed him back just as enthusiastically. While his arms tightened their embrace around her and pressed her even more fully against him, Pepper's fingers quickly found their way into the short, dark hair at the nape of his neck and knotted themselves in there while she lost herself in him. Sometimes the intensity between them was almost frightening.

His lips started sucking on hers, licking and biting softly, making her moan and him groan in response. Her tongue found his, duelling it until Tony's finger's and his whole being became restless, clearly ready to take their impromptu make out session further.

Somehow that made her snap back to reality and she was about to push him away not too gently and get into his face, when his mumbled words against her throat made her freeze.

"God, I love you."

Her heart missed a beat before it continued thundering twice as fast in her chest and suddenly, she felt so warm and sickenly happy.

"Missed you like crazy," he muttered around her collarbone and than actually started sucking on it, making Pepper moan loudly and her groin involuntarily grind into his.

"I love you, too," she whispered over his ear before biting down on the soft flesh. Tony's hands found the zipper of her business dress and hastily started pulling it down. "Missed you, too."

Her head felt dizzy, overcome with lust and love and affection and want and damn it, how was it possible that he could have her like putty in his hands in under five minutes?

Her dress dropped without a fight and left her in the circle of his arms with nothing on than her underwear and her high heels. Tony groaned appreciatively before he picked her up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. His hardness met her heat through his jeans, causing them both to moan against each other's mouths.

And then, suddenly remembering tonight's events, Pepper bit down on his lip, hard enough to make him bleed.

"Ouch!", he cried out but Pepper didn't have mercy and instead, sucked his lower lip into his mouth.

"Serves you right," she growled, "for corrupting my landlord and making me move in here."

"Other women would kill for that," he muttered, sounding both incredibly turned on and also a little bit irritated.

"Yeah, well, other women aren't the ones who you want to move in with you."

"Figures I'd fall for the difficult one," Tony hummed. "For what's worth it, I really, really want you here with me."

Her arms were tightly wrapped around his neck and she smiled down at him. "Yeah, figures. I'm glad it's me though." Leaning down, Pepper captured his lips with hers and kissed him again. It was gentler and loving and her heart pounded strongly in her chest as Tony's warm hands wandered up her back, stroking it in large, soothing strokes as he kissed her back.

"I want to move in with you," Pepper said once she'd pulled away and smiled at him, almost beaming with happiness.

Tony smiled up at her. "Great. Let's christen your new bedroom."

And with a giggle, Pepper let Tony take her up into their bedroom.