Hollow Scars

Once Tony was sure they weren’t being followed by the robots and his stealth armor had done its job, the flight from the abandoned town to Dakar took about a half an hour. Scarlett had taken to examining details on the stealth armor that she wouldn’t have otherwise gotten a chance to explore. It wasn’t as though she got up close and personal with the Iron Man suits very often despite how frequently she’d been in close proximity to them. What she really wanted was a week left alone with the suits to dismantle one and put it back together so she could understand the inner workings of them. But considering how trust was still an iffy word between Tony and Scarlett, she was guessing that wouldn’t happen any time soon.

Tony flew them to the top floor of one of the nicer hotels in the area, which didn’t surprise Scarlett in the least given his spoiled nature, and landed on the balcony of what was presumably his room. Carefully, he set Scarlett down and made sure she didn’t lost her balance when he let her go. Jarvis had been periodically alerting him of her condition as directed and made him aware that her vitals were evening out and it appeared her fever had even lessened to a much lower grade but Tony stayed silent and waited for Scarlett to give him the earful she had been surely preparing on the ride over.

While Scarlett had been thinking up what had been abandoned at the old village and the potential leads she’d given up and preparing arguments for Tony on the ride over, the anger of being forcefully dragged from battle had faded considerably along the way. It came down to the fact that Scarlett understood what Tony had done. What Scarlett desired to do had been reckless and dangerous. Tony had diffused the situation in the only manner he knew how: removing them from it. In the long run, Scarlett knew he’d made the right call but it didn’t make her feel any less frustrated by the missed opportunity.

“They’re going to burn that town to the ground now that we’re gone. You know that, don’t you?” Scarlett finally chose her words as she paced across the balcony. Tony had triggered the Mark VII to start dismantling on its own accord and waited until the helmet had retracted into the remainders of the suit before responding to Scarlett.

“That’s what they’d do if they’re smart and considering what we’ve been through up until now with them? Yeah, I think that’s what they’re going to do.” Tony ran his fingers through his hair to try and repair the style it’d been in before he’d donned his suit of armor.

“We weren’t finished there, Stark!” Scarlett glanced over the edge of the balcony and knew there was no escaping from the highest floor of the hotel, at least not that way. She found her own hotel near the airport across the city and knew she’d have to return there eventually to retrieve the bag she had left behind. “There was still more left to do! I wasn’t ready to go.”

“More left to do? Do you hear yourself? What exactly were you planning to do with those giant robots breathing down your neck? I’m sure that would’ve worked out really well.”

“You can’t butt into my fights and make decisions for me! This is my life, Tony!” Scarlett still wasn’t angry, but instead trying to make a point. After all that MedCo had done to hinder her progress, being angry with Tony for following his heart seemed pointless and unnecessary.

“This is your vendetta, Scarlett! This isn’t a life of any kind! When was the last time you slept without me getting you drunk, huh? I’m the responsible one in this relationship! Do you know how upsetting that is?” Tony tried to add his own brand of humor into their little argument, but knew that it was also a strangely serious comment. Considering Tony’s track record with responsibility, the fact that he was being the careful one was scary.

“You don’t think things through before you act! What if there was something important still there? We could’ve worked together for once! We could’ve searched the place while avoiding the robots. I don’t need to destroy those robots firsthand to get off or anything.”

“No, I know exactly how you get off, if you remember.” Tony scoffed. Scarlett shook her head in annoyance, though was partially amused by his jest.

“We weren’t finished there! I’m never going to get ahead of MedCo if you keep jumping in front of me and slowing me down! We’re running around in circles, Stark!” Scarlett turned away from the balcony in displeasure and placed her hand to her forehead in an attempt to keep her head from exploding with pressure.

“Not that again. You can’t just forget my first name whenever you’re mad at me. It’s not going to work like that. It’s Tony! T-o-n-y. It’s not that hard to remember, I can write it down for you.” Tony pointed his index finger at her accusingly, taking a step closer to her. She strategically took a step away from him to keep him from closing the gap. While the space on the balcony was limited, Scarlett knew that getting closer to Tony always seemed to end in some kind of kissing and in order for her to stand her ground she would have to keep her distance, at least for a little while.

“Is that really important right now? What I call you? I have about a hundred other really fantastic names for you if you’d like me to use one of those instead.” Scarlett continued to back away when Tony took another step toward her. He was about to speak when he noticed the steps she was taking and actually smirked, once the gears had turned in his mind and he’d realized what she was up to.

“What is that? What are you doing?” Tony nodded to her feet.

“Nothing.” Scarlett shook her head. “You’re getting off topic, again, really Tony…” Purposely Tony took a step closer to her and Scarlett took a step away instinctively.

“What is that all about? Why are you moving away from me?”

“I am not.” Scarlett knew she’d never hear the end of it if she offered him her real reasons.

“You’re running away from me! Why is that?”

“I’m not running anywhere! Would you look around you? There’s nowhere to run. If I wanted to, I’d lock you out on this balcony and take cover but I’m here now aren’t I? Not running.”

“You’re taking these little dance steps back from me when I move closer to you. What is it? Am I just too hot to handle?” Tony teased the edge still thick in his voice from the stress of the battle they’d just escaped. Adrenaline coursed still through his system as it often did when he got to make use of his Iron Man suits coupled with the testosterone that arguing with Scarlett filled him with. It was a big ball of sexual tension waiting to explode and he was sure that something similar happened within Scarlett otherwise she wouldn’t be backing away from him while they fought. Her resolve was usually much stronger than his.

“That has nothing to do with anything right now. You just ruined a potential chance to get a leg up on MedCo and I’m not going to drop the subject just because you want to make fun of me for this sexual tension thing!”

“There was nothing there, Scarlett!” Tony slammed his fist against the railing of the balcony and spoke seriously for the first time since they landed. Quieting down, Scarlett folded her arms over her chest and let Tony speak. There had only been a handful of occasions in which Scarlett had seen Tony being serious and she couldn’t say she was particularly fond of any of them. The first time had been when he’d been angry with her for manipulating his suit after it’d crashed thanks to an electromagnetic pulse much like the one that had sent him crashing through the ruined buildings earlier that night, and the only other time had been when she’d confessed to him how she’d tried to deceive him in order to bring his company crashing down around him only to find that she couldn’t because she’d realized he was a good man.

Tony took a step away from her and brushed his fingers through his hair again, his other hand resting at his side as he considered what to say. Tilting her head to the side, Scarlett watched him carefully. He’d called her vengeful earlier. The words stung a little as she considered them. If anyone was supposed to understand what she was going through, it was Tony. The arc reactor still managing to give off a faint glow beneath his black t-shirt was a symbol of what Tony had become ever since his incident in Afghanistan. Of course vengeance was part of what he went through and one of the reasons he’d become Iron Man but it hadn’t been the ultimate thing that had driven him to become a better man.

“You can’t know that.” Scarlett finally spoke when she realized Tony was having trouble either quelling his frustration or finding his words.

“It doesn’t matter!” Tony turned again to face her. “There was nothing there worth our lives, Scarlett. Something terrible happened in that place!”

“I know and I want to know what it was!”

“What would knowing change? You and I already know that those people are monsters. What would it prove if you found out what they’re doing?”

“So I can stop them!” Scarlett took a step toward him, not yelling so much as she was pleading with him to understand. Her desperation far outweighed her need to keep a level head. “It’s not about revenge or morbid curiosity, Tony!”

“Yes it is, don’t try to talk to me about vengeance and getting even because I know exactly what that feels like! Getting your revenge isn’t going to make you feel any better about what happened to you! All you can do is try to accept it and move on.”

“God damnit, Tony! What I did to you was about revenge, remember? I wanted vengeance! I wanted your blood in exchange for Scott’s or at least I thought I did! Look where that got me!” Tony wanted to say ‘to the love of her life’ but kept the thought inside of his head because he was sure that’s not what she was getting at.

“You’re so hungry to give what happened to you meaning that you’re tearing through Africa like a devil in a blue dress!” Tony argued instead.

“No! You’re wrong!” Scarlett shook her head. “I don’t want this to happen to someone else and I know it’s happening to other people, Tony! It happened to those people in that town, to Sergei, to me… and now they’re using what I built in an attempt to save my life against me and everyone else! This isn’t about revenge it’s about doing the right thing even if it means sacrificing what I really want.”

“And when the hell was the last time you got what you wanted?” Tony was surprised by how defensive she’d become when he’d mentioned revenge. Clearly there was far more to what was going on in her mind than he knew, but there was no way he could know the whole story if she wouldn’t tell him.

“This coming from the man who basically just told me I’m on an insane selfish rampage for vengeance because MedCo got the better of me? Sometimes I win Tony and sometimes I lose! I’m not an egomaniac! In the past I left it at that. You don’t get to be as good as I am at what I do if you focus on every little failure and you should know what as well as I do. I’m trying to make some good out of a very bad situation.”

“And what, getting yourself killed is on the agenda?” Tony sneered, shaking his head. “Even Bond knows when he’s outnumbered and when to get the hell out of dodge.”

“So, I should just give up?” Scarlett laughed, but there was no amusement in her voice. She turned away from him again and leaned her elbows on the balcony’s railing, hanging her head in her hands. “It was one of my only leads and now we can’t go back there.”

“There was nothing there, Scarlett.” Tony leaned against the railing next to her, his back against it and arms folded across his chest.

“Well, we’ll never really know that because of what happened.”

“Something despicable happened there, you’re right, and it was probably much worse than what MedCo did to you and Scott.” Tony said his name with disdain. Even if he knew the man wasn’t competition to him any longer, something about Scott didn’t sit right with Tony. Then again, Tony wasn’t exactly the kind to handle jealousy very well either, so he wasn’t sure if his hunches were legitimate or simply a product of an overly analytic mind and over inflated green eyed monster. “I took as many samples as I could before I found you and I’ve already sent them back to a friend in the states to run some tests. We’ll find out what they were doing one way or another but right now there’s nothing you can do. What would you have done if we stayed there anyway besides get shot? Have you even considered armor or something?”

“I would’ve had you keep an eye on the robots while I searched what remained of the town. When it became too dangerous we would’ve created a distraction and escaped but instead you pulled the trigger on that a little early. And I usually don’t need armor because I don’t draw attention to myself. That’s you.” Scarlett flexed her fingers in her left hand where her Tesla glove was still attached, feeling them tingling and numbed from the way it’d backfired on her while they’d fought MedCo’s security agents.

“After that thing sent you flying across the town like that? No way. You’re lucky you didn’t break anything!” Tony shook his head adamantly. He was going to bring up the fever she’d been suffering for the last few days but decided against it unless she argued her health. There were some things better left alone and if she was getting better, he wasn’t going to mention it.

“You went through a wall and I’m the one who can’t handle myself?”

“I had full body armor on,” Tony disputed.

“I wouldn’t have gone flying across the room if someone had done their math right.” Scarlett taunted.

“I crossed a wire, it wasn’t my math.” Tony pouted his bottom lip out then stood up straight. Grabbing her wrist away from the balcony he turned her to face him. “Scarlett, these guys are after you. It’s not a race to get to some information or weapon before someone else does. This isn’t espionage like you’re used to. This isn’t… a game. You think you’re on this massive journey to vindicate yourself after having created those robots when no one can blame you for doing so in the first place but you’re not! You’re the only one who can’t see that you’re running right into their trap! These people are just as smart as we are but ten times more evil.” Before Scarlett could object Tony interrupted again.

“Don’t say that I have no ideas what you’re capable of because I know you well enough to know that there is not an evil part of you, no matter how hard you try to pretend there might be.”

“I’m not stupid, Tony.” Scarlett pulled his hand away as he rested it on her cheek so instead Tony grabbed her hand and pulled it to his lips to kiss her knuckles.

“I know that, trust me.”

“They don’t want to kill me.”

“I know that, too.”

“You don’t know everything.” Scarlett couldn’t help but smile, chuckling sardonically under her breath.

“I’m a pretty fast learner.” Tony argued, resting her hand down on his shoulder for her. In one quick tug Scarlett’s hair was free of the ponytail she’d pulled it into and chocolate curls fell around her face much to her frustration. Tossing the elastic ponytail over the side of the balcony, Tony smirked successfully.

“This is exactly why I keep backing away from you.” Scarlett pushed her rebellious hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ears so it would stop blocking her vision.

“You just don’t like losing.” Tony slipped his arm around her waist, his hand resting on the small of her back. As much as she objected to the idea of them getting close while they were arguing, she wasn’t trying very hard to pull away from him either. Ever since the two had given into the tension they built up together, their fighting had often turned intimate. It was just as fun as it had once been, but now they got to fulfill the urges they built up without conflict of conscience.

“That’s true.” Scarlett nodded curtly after considering this information.

“Let me help you with MedCo.” Wiping the back of his fingers against her cheek he brushed away some blood from a scrape she’d gotten during battle.

“We’ve been through this already.”

“I have resourced you can only dream of.”

“The more technical I get the easier I am to trace.” Scarlett pursed her lips but watched Tony’s as he ran his thumb along the outline of her jaw. They were far more tempting than any technology he was offering.

“You know I’m not going to give up until I get through to you.” Tilting her jaw up to close the small gap between them, Tony engulfed her lips slowly with his; first her lower lip and then her upper lip and leaving a small kiss on each of them before pulling away and only an inch or so at that.

“I’m going to end up getting you killed, Tony.” Scarlett moistened her lips, resisting the urge to capture his lips again in hers like she so wanted to. When he leaned to again kiss her she tilted her head away so he’d miss. The scruff of his beard brushed against her cheek and over her jaw, since he was apparently not bothered by this.

“Don’t worry about me so much. I can take care of myself.” He whispered in her ear, letting his lips brush against the rim of it. Scarlett shivered but brought her hand to the side of his neck and couldn’t help but smile despite the ache in the pit of her stomach from either guilt or illness; she couldn’t quite tell which.

“I can’t help it. For a genius, you’re kinda dopey.” Scarlett teased but couldn’t resist brushing her nose against his cheek. Tony shivered and broke out in goose bumps from her touch.

“I am not dopey.”

“It’s cute most of the time.” Scarlett pulled back so she could look at him again but Tony wasn’t going to let her get much further than that and Scarlett didn’t really want to get much further either so she didn’t resist.

“Dopey or not, we’re in this together even if you don’t like it very much.” Tony urged her close again but she shook her head no and tugged back to keep him from doing so. Instead Tony turned her and urged her to lean against the sliding glass door that led into the hotel room he’d purchased for the night so she couldn’t move away. Sighing heavily, Scarlett weighed the consequences of letting Tony assist her. If Tony helped her she’d at least be able to keep an eye on him. Unfortunately, he also relied too much on his instincts and while Scarlett was also guilty of that at times, she knew that Tony flying around in a suit of armor was a much bigger and obvious target than she was by herself in the cover of darkness.

Scarlett had stealth on her side, while Tony had technology on his. It was something she’d have to mull over before she decided to really agree to it. Regrettably, pressed against the glass of the door behind her on the balcony of what was surely an expensive hotel room wasn’t exactly the ideal place for Scarlett to consider his proposal.

Tony’s hand on the side of her neck felt heavy and constricting even though he placed little to no pressure on her and merely brushed callused fingers over her skin and urged his lips closer to hers. Her thoughts muddled and confused thanks to the intoxicating closeness of her lover, Scarlett brushed her lips against Tony’s chin, recalling how once it had driven him wild. Visibly he shivered from her touch, a soft groan escaping his lips. Vaguely, Scarlett wondered if suffocation from sexual tension was possible.

The back of her head touched against the glass as Tony’s lips engulfed hers again, far less sweetly than they had earlier. Hand against the side of his neck to guide her, she kissed him passionately in return, no longer able to resist the tug between them. It’d become much harder to stop kissing him once she’d given into the desire between them. How funny it was to think that it had been exactly the opposite of what she’d hoped for when Scarlett had first realized the mess she’d gotten into with Tony what seemed like so long ago.

Heart skipping a beat, Scarlett slipped her hand into his hair and tugged him closer so she could deepen the kiss. Tilting her head to the side she leaned away from the glass so she could open her mouth wider into the kiss. Lips had never tasted as sweet as Tony’s did and every kiss was like a lightning strike making her tremble.

“No.” Scarlett pulled her lips from the kiss abruptly but couldn’t move very far and didn’t pull her hand out of his hair. “I can’t do this again.” Placing her hand on his chest she let her lips gingerly brush against his in direct contradiction to what she was saying. “I won’t do this again. I’ve got to leave.”

Tony pulled back and placed his hand on her cheek, letting his thumb brush against her lower lip. Relaxing his grip on her arm, he gave her the chance to pull away and run from him but she made little to no effort to even move.

“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Instead of letting her go, Tony returned to her lips and pulled her away from the glass of the door.

“It is.” Scarlett whispered between kisses, but her arms were soon around his shoulders and pulling closer to him.

“I’m not stopping you.” Tony fumbled behind her to try and open the door to the hotel room.

“Good,” Scarlett muttered between sloppy kisses until Tony decided he’d lift her up and carry her into the hotel room. Groping for the handle of the sliding glass door, Tony moved it open while still keeping his attention fully on the woman in his arms who had wrapped her legs around his middle. Stumbling inside once it was open Tony started to kick off his sneakers. The soft hum of the Mark VII, neatly folded back up on its own accord, floating back into the hotel room was the only other sound besides their breathing. It took him multiple tries but Tony managed to close the sliding glass door while still entangling his lips with Scarlett’s.

Arms around his shoulders and holding him close into the kiss Scarlett didn’t take her attention away from his touches. The room was dark around them, only illuminated in the faint glow of the arc reactor between them. Tony stopped his walk in the middle of the room once he’d finally won the battle against his sneakers and concentrated on kissing Scarlett. Her right hand was on one side of his cheek, the other entangled in his short hair, strands of it getting caught in the gears of the Tesla glove she wore. The annoying tug didn’t bother him but simply filled him further with the excitement and passion they shared.

She needed him just as much as he needed her and it was more than just the tension they built up together. Something that had once terrified them both had become a comfort somewhere along the line and while neither one of them was willing to verbally admit that, they shared this secret in the darkness and the quiet of the hotel room in Dakar. Trying to recall the layout of the room he’d spent about ten seconds in earlier, Tony navigated through the suite of the hotel, bumping several times into pieces of furniture and corners of walls.

Eventually he took to leaning her against the doorway between the main room of the suite and the separate bedroom. For a long time the two sat kissing, entangled within each other’s lips, a flurry of groans, touches and caresses shared while their hearts raced and palms began to sweat. It felt hard to breathe after so many kisses and Scarlett found herself taking more breaks from his lips to catch her breath. Her fingers brushed over the scruff on his jaw line which made them both shiver. Reaching around him she started to tug at his shirt with shaky hands. Tony pulled from her lips only to start kissing at her neck.

Frantically trying to start dismantling her Tesla glove, Scarlett cursed under her breath when it got stuck and instead continued trying to remove Tony’s shirt, her fingers brushing gingerly down the length of his spine and to the small of his back. A low groan escaped Tony’s lips and reverberated against her flesh making her gasp and shiver from his touch. Deciding he couldn’t take much more of their playing around, Tony pulled her away from the doorway and started finally into the bedroom.

Stumbling forward with Scarlett still in his arms, Tony peeked around her in search of the bed. With the image of it in his mind’s eye he returned to her lips and then walked toward where he knew it was until his knees bumped against the edge of the bed and the two of them fell forward onto the plush mattress when he lost his balance. Urging her further back onto the bed, Tony crawled over her and found her lips again, forcing her to lean her head back against the comforter. Before she could reach up to grab him as she often did, Tony started to tug away the jacket she’d worn out into the desert. The two managed to get it off and around her Tesla glove with ease, along with the bag that she’d been carrying around. Pushing it aside and eventually off the bed, Tony refused to pull his lips away from hers through the process.

“I have to get this thing off…” Scarlett muttered against his lips, brushing the fingers of her Tesla glove against Tony’s cheek to let him know what she was talking about. Nodding his head, Tony grabbed her wrist and kissed just below the glove where he could see her scraped up flesh from the battle. Carefully he started to pull apart the glove one piece at a time but stopped with a groan as Scarlett nipped playfully at his ear.

“You’re going to make me break it.” He threw her a skeptical glance. In response she purposely bit his ear lobe again and gave it a playful tug before letting her lips brush back down the side of his neck. Tony chuckled low and then finally managed to carefully remove the brilliant piece of machinery she’d developed for herself. Knowing how important it was to her, he didn’t throw it off of the side of the bed with the discarded clothing and instead took the time to set it on the nightstand. Scarlett grabbed him by the hem of his shirt and pulled him back to her once she heard him setting it down. Wrapping her legs around his middle she urged him away from the nightstand and back into her arms where she started to slowly pull the shirt up and off of him. Her nails slowly traced over his back beneath his shirt.

Tony’s hands crept beneath her shirt, keeping her from pulling his up any further. Biting at his lip and giving him a playful but intimate growl, Scarlett then pushed him over onto his back and straddled his hips. Reaching down she quickly untied her boots and slid them off the side of the bed with her socks. Hardened hands artfully brushed over her stomach beneath her shirt making her shiver and coo softly. Swatting at his hands, Scarlett pushed them away from her shirt and kissed him again passionately, pushing his head into the comforter as he had done to her earlier. Then she started, once again, at the shirt that seemed to be defeating her. Hands beneath it and just about to maneuver it over his arms, Scarlett squealed in surprise when Tony grabbed either side of her and forced her over once again.

Due to how close to the edge of the bed they were, Scarlett nearly went flying off the side of it as he pushed her over but thankfully Tony had been paying enough attention to wrap his arms securely around her and pull her back against him. Sitting up now on the bed with her safely in his arms, the two of them staring at the edge of the bed illuminated by the glow of Tony’s now exposed arc reactor. The haze of sexual tension temporarily cleared so they could breathe. Tony laid them both back on the bed where they considered what had transpired. Scarlett knew she should put a stop to what they were doing for more than the usual reasons, considering how ill she’d been earlier in the day.

But try as she might, she couldn’t bring herself to get up and walk away from him. He was watching her with those playful brown eyes again, feeling her out during the moment of serenity amongst the haze of hormones they’d become. Scarlett realized he must have known that she was finding some clarity and was awaiting her decision. Now that she’d had a moment to think about something other than getting Tony’s pants off, Scarlett could feel the exhaustion in her limbs from both the battle in the abandoned town and the sickness.

“I got air sick earlier. I threw up all morning.” Deciding that it would only be fair to tell him since she’d decided to stay even though she’d already spent the last twenty minutes kissing him, Scarlett offered a weak smile. “I don’t want to get you sick if it’s more than that.”

“Did you brush your teeth?” Tony couldn’t hide the confident grin and the mischievous sparkle in his eyes. Laughing under her breath, Scarlett furrowed her brow in confusion and nodded her head. “Then it’s fine.” Tony immediately went for her lips again before she could change her mind and urged her onto her back, hands once again beneath her shirt.

Tilting her lips away from his she clicked her tongue in disapproval and placed a finger against his lips. Expectantly Tony waited for her to say something but instead laughed when he felt her hands at his shirt that she’d been fruitlessly trying to remove for the last ten minutes.

“Yes, ma’am.” Sitting up, Tony pulled his shirt over his head and then tossed it to the side and away, comically flexing for her as he did so. Amused, Scarlett clapped for the show she’d been given and then started to tug him back toward her. Instead Tony urged his hands to her sides and lifted her up to sit with him. Pulling her into his lap so she was straddling his hips he kissed her again, his hands at her sides while hers brushed her fingers over his abdomen and traced the outline of his muscles. She was partially checking to make sure he hadn’t sustained any severe injuries in their battle and partially enjoying herself while she did so.

Hands still underneath her shirt and making a point to brush his callused fingertips against her since he knew how much she enjoyed the sensation, Tony tugged the tank top up and off of her and tossed it aside being ever careful of the scrapes and bruises he found along the way. As he was about to address the scrape on her arm she’d received during battle he was interrupted when he found her hips grinding against his. Rational thought completely slipped away and returned to the haze of passion and pleasure that such an action encouraged while a low groan escaped his lips.

Her lips trailed down his neck, nipping softly at his flesh as she went, moving slowly down to his reactor where she let her fingers trace around the circular pattern. When he tried to regain her lips, she placed her index finger under his chin and urged him away before kissing over his chest, her fingers now on his stomach once she was sure that he wasn’t going to stop her. She made no point to avoid his reactor or to show it special attention. Instead, Scarlett treated it like every other part of him.

This still surprised Tony for some reason and struck him as odd but not in a bad way. Filled with a warm and peculiar sensation that didn’t seem familiar amongst the hormones and sexual appetite he usually felt, Tony closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensual movements of her lips against his flesh.

Made aware again of the attraction they’d built up as Scarlett readjusted her hips against his and kissed back up to his neck, Tony groaned and tightened his grip on her sides and slid his hands down to her backside. Grabbing at her playfully he gave her a squeeze before sliding his hands back around to the front of her jeans where he fumbled with the button and started to unzip them. Returning to her lips, Tony spoke between messy and heated kisses.

“I miss when you used to wear skirts all the time.” Groaning, Tony pulled away from her lips so he could pay attention to the jeans that seemed far too complicated for his liking.

“You just miss the easy access.” Scarlett kissed down to his chin and hashed her teeth against the scruff that met her there sending chills down her spine.

“I’m not arguing with that.” Tony urged her to lie back on the bed once again and slid her jeans away from her hips after a few tugs. Scarlett’s hands slipped down his back side where she gave his butt a playful pat before unbuttoning his pants as she went. Simultaneously she started to push them out of the way and off of him. Before she could finish Tony moved away from her and slid her jeans off of her entirely, tossing them to the floor. Tony returned to where she laid waiting for him and then slowly rested his body down against hers, his pants still half hanging on, one arm on the side of her so he could prop himself up just enough to use the bed for leverage and the other hand going straight into her hair to push it out of her face.

Tony’s mouth engulfed hers in a struggle for dominance that she was willing to submit to rather quickly, seeing just how good those lips felt. Much to her surprise, Tony didn’t rush her as he sometimes did when he was in such a state, throbbing against her the way he was, and instead laid there kissing her and playing with her hair. She took this time to explore his lips, holding her breath for as long as she could between kisses which only succeeded in making her heart beat faster. Gingerly she made her fingers trail down his back, feeling how his muscles flexed to keep him propped up on top of her.

She tried tugging down his jeans with her toes but they weren’t going anywhere, seemingly stuck between them considering the precarious position they were laying in together. Suddenly she felt his rough hand against her breast, caressing the soft and tender flesh and she bit his tongue accidentally in response. Tony winced and pulled away from her lips but left his hand right where it had been to continue the sensual act, the other hand holding her bra that he’d apparently artfully removed without her noticing while they’d been kissing. Scarlett stared at him, mouth agape and furrowed her brow in wonder.

“How the hell…?”

“It’s a gift.” Tony shrugged but then returned his attention to where his hands were caressing her sensitive flesh, his lips leaving kisses down her neck. Scarlett arched her back into his touch, her skin breaking out with goose bumps from his fingers. Things suddenly felt far more urgent than they had only moments prior. Scarlett hooked her leg around his and urged his hips closer to hers, feeling the heat of him through exposed boxers. Tony lifted his hips in surprise and let his mouth hang open in surprise. Grabbing his chin Scarlett tugged him close to kiss her passionately. He kept pulling away so that he could try to get his jeans off, apparently being caught on his boxer shorts. Each time he got close to fixing the problem at hand, Scarlett tugged his lips back to hers for kissing which successfully distracted him from his task.

“I can’t concentrate when you do that…” Tony eventually placed both hands on either side of her then propped himself up far enough away that she couldn’t continue to pull him close to kiss. He kicked his jeans finally away and tossed them to the side. Scarlett leaned up on her elbows and kissed him again passionately regardless, leaving a soft nip on his lower lip as she pulled back but only about a centimeter or so.

“That’s too bad.” Scarlett sat up and pushed him onto his back, straddling his hips again and urging her hands onto his shoulders to hold him in place before kissing him again feverishly. Tony shivered and returned her kisses, his hands attempting to push her hair over her shoulders so it wouldn’t cover her breasts but seemingly only getting caught in the process.

Sitting up on top of him, Scarlett shook her hair away and then slid back far enough so she could manipulate his boxers up and away from him, just far enough so that he was free of them. She shivered and cooed when Tony’s hands crawled up her stomach and over her breasts, caressing them each only for a moment before returning to her hips so he could work away her panties. Deciding it would be too much work to do so, Tony planned just to rip them at the sides which had become something of a fetish of his over the past couple of weeks.

Knowing what he was up to Scarlett swatted his hands away and slipped away her panties before he could tear them apart. He watched her hands as they moved, mouth hanging open slightly and tilting his head to the side curiously.

“Well, that’s no fun.”

“You can’t destroy all of them.” Scarlett laughed and urged his shoulders back down again as he grabbed at her hips, the mattress bouncing slightly from the force.

“Feisty…” Tony growled playfully, chomping his teeth together, eyes still sparkling with mystery. Readjusting herself on top of him, having a hard time catching her breath for more than one reason, Scarlett had to stop herself before pushing over him.

“Would you stop squirming?”

“I can’t help it!” Tony smirked but before Scarlett could respond or push him back down, he grabbed her around her waist, lifted her up and laid her back on the bed. Kissing up her chest, Tony found that her head was near the edge of the foot of the bed and once he was sure she wouldn’t fall off, he pushed her thighs apart, readjusted himself and slipped inside of her with a loud but low groan. Tensing her body and surprised by the sudden action, Scarlett reached behind her and grabbed at the side of the bed, the other hand grabbing onto Tony’s back as she adjusted to the feel of him.

“God… Oh…”

“No, no… Just Tony.” He purred playfully into her ear, giving it a soft kiss along her jaw. She swatted at his back tauntingly and he chuckled in response, only to have the sound turn into a deep moan.

“You’re an ass…” She managed to finally speak once the startling sensation of him had swept over her and allowed her access to her voice again.

“And you love me, so what does that make you?” Tony grunted and lingered above her before starting to urge his hips in slow motions inside of her. Reaffirming her grip on his shoulder, Scarlett braced her feet against the bed and urged her hips with his motions, wanting to build up the excitement within him as much as he did within her. Sex had always been natural with Tony which Scarlett was still flustered by. It’d either been a chore or a tool to reach an end for her in the past and now with Tony it was something far beyond their control that took her to another place.

“Still not… an ass.” Scarlett bit her lip to stifle a groan as she moved but then found his lips with hers again. Playing submissive had never been her role before she’d met Tony but it was different than it had been with others. The struggle for dominance had been so much fun between the two that it didn’t matter to her who won and since it seemingly did matter to Tony that he ended up being top dog, Scarlett was completely okay with feeding into it. Not to mention, most men gave up on dominance when they got their hands on a woman like Scarlett because if she wanted to have their way with them, they’d let her.

“Damn…” Tony cursed, but not in response to the way she had spoken to him, but instead to the sensations they were building up at their slow and agonizing pace. His thighs trembled and tingled as he moved and while his body was urging him desperately to move faster to get what it wanted, he kept moving slowly to build them both up in hopes of getting her to vocalize her satisfaction. When it became clear that Scarlett couldn’t hold onto their kisses for as long as his lips desired to, he kissed instead down her neck and allowed her time to breathe properly in case sickness had made it harder on her.

Finding the faded spot on the side of her neck where Tony had marked her during a prior encounter, he let his tongue brush around it once more before attacking it again as he once had. Hand in his hair, Scarlett gave it a swift tug to try and stop him from doing so but wasn’t fast enough.

“Tony… Don’t…” She groaned in a scolding tone, a mixture of disapproval and excitement.

“Mine…” He nipped at the spot again which made her jump and resulted in him having to buck his hips against hers in response. Crying out in surprise Scarlett slipped both arms tightly around his shoulders in reaction, gripping tightly at his sweaty flesh. Smirking in response he nuzzled his nose against the spot in her neck. “Sensitive there, are we?”

Finding his lips again, Scarlett silenced his arrogant taunts and slid her hands further down his back, pressing her fingertips hard against his skin. Her body desperately needed his to move faster. Adjusting her legs one at a time, she wrapped them around his middle and pulled him tighter to her. Seeing stars in her vision, she had to pull away from his lips to relieve her lungs, soft sounds of pleasure echoing through the room. Tony instinctively bucked his hips against hers again and pushed her harder against the bed. Resting his forehead against hers, Tony sped up the rhythm of his hips with hers, feeling the tension starting to build higher and higher within him.

“Scarlett…” Tony growled her name quietly as he continued moving his body faster and more erratically than before. Closer and closer they crept together toward their explosive end. Scarlett tried to stifle cries of passion as each push led them nearer to ecstasy but couldn’t manage to. Each motion he made urged her to cry out for him, sometimes with a soft mutter of his name and sometimes with nothing more than a cry to a deity she didn’t subscribe to. Hand on her thigh to help keep her wrapped around him as he felt her tremble with pretense, Tony couldn’t wait any longer.

As he reached his end with a shout of pleasure, he was delighted to feel her body doing the same and at nearly the same moment. Her face red with passion and her outcry matching his, he felt her body twitch and ache around him as wave after wave of her orgasm swept through her, filling her with warmth and feelings she couldn’t control. Tony’s body flooded with the sudden pleasure of his own climax and his trembling thighs struggled to keep up the pace that he’d built them up too.

“Tony, I…Oh God…” Shaking her head from side to side, Scarlett couldn’t escape the flood of passion overwhelming her and was unable to finish her thought. Nodding his head frantically, Tony snapped his eyes open to watch the pleasure cross her features in his blue reactor light as he was sure it was directly caused by his pleasure. The sweat was dripping down his flesh and melting into hers as he kept them moving united as one until his body forced him to start slowing down. There was nothing quite like the feeling they experienced together each time they met beneath the sheets, but neither one of them was ready to admit that to the other.

Finally slowing his body to a stop, Tony kissed her, his hand lazily moving from her hip, tracing the dips of her muscles over her stomach, his thumb brushing over her belly button, then up between her breasts and onto her cheek, holding her into the kiss.

Scarlett took several breaths between kisses to try and relieve the ache in her lungs but refused to sacrifice his touch just so she could breathe properly. Air didn’t seem like a necessity when her body was riddled with such phenomenal bliss. Once they could both breathe at a more normal rate, Tony pulled from her lips and started to kiss over her neck.

Scarlett lethargically let her fingers brush through his hair and over the back of his neck, watching as he shivered each time she did so, pleased how he made no move to stop her from continuing to do it. The light of his reactor was stifled as he laid flat against her, waiting for his limbs to regain enough strength to properly pull away. Scarlett could feel the renewed mark on her chest once again from how he’d rested the heated metal of the reactor against her flesh while they’d made love.

“I love you, Tony…” Scarlett sighed contently and tiredly, closing her eyes as she played with his sweaty hair. Tony smiled to himself. It wasn’t something she often admitted so bluntly but when she did he was always glad to hear it. Most times he just teased her about being in love with him and it sometimes left him wondering if maybe he was pushing it too hard. He couldn’t help that he was excited about the fact that he was actually in love and not absolutely terrified of the concept. Every time they met with danger he was reminded of how short their lives could potentially be. They should never miss a chance to say what was really on their minds simply because of how stubborn they were. Times like those they shared that night in bed, Tony was sure Scarlett felt the same way.

“I know.” Tony smiled and when Scarlett swatted him playfully on the back of his neck he laughed. “I love you, too.”

“That’s better.” Scarlett laughed weakly, sounding incredibly exhausted considering the long day she’d had. Carefully, Tony leaned up on his hands and knees and pulled away from her body. Afterward he laid back down with his head on her shoulder, letting their bodies cool down further. Grabbing Scarlett’s hand he urged it back into his hair so that she would play with it again, something he’d grown rather fond of.

Silently the two laid together for a long time. Tony found the mark on her chest that his reactor had left behind. Guilt pitted in his stomach for having left it there. It wasn’t a foreseen consequence of what they’d done together and it wasn’t something that had ever happened with anyone else outside of her. Eyeing the scar, he sat there wondering about it for a long time before he reached to trace his fingers around the pattern.

“If we keep this up as often as we are, this thing is going to end up permanent.” Tony let his palm rest flat over the mark and sighed. When she didn’t respond he leaned up to gather her attention only to find that she had fallen asleep. Laughing softly and shaking his head Tony carefully sat up. “Yeah, that’s my favorite lullaby too, Scarlett.” Sliding toward the head of the bed, Tony tugged the blankets down sloppily.

Reaching back to grab Scarlett, he carefully cradled her in his arms in hopes of moving her without rousing her. He waited for her to wake up and scold him for interrupting her sleep but instead she leaned into his touch and continued her slumber. Surprised that she was such a heavy sleeper considering everything he knew about her, he slid her under the covers at the head of the bed and then slipped in next to her before covering them both up.

Resting next to her contently he pushed her hair out of her face, making sure that the pieces that had stuck to her skin from sweat were gone and out of the way. After that he laid there watching her and making sure she continued to rest until finally sleep found him.

It always seemed easier for him to find sleep when he knew that Scarlett was safely resting next to him.