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“I want you to teach me self defense.” Pepper said it casually, not even looking away from the screen.
“Are you sure?” Natasha casually reached over with her foot and paused the movie, tapping the button with her toe.
Pepper stole another handful of popcorn from the bowl resting in Natasha’s lap. “Of course I am. You offered to do it before.”
“And you turned me down.”
Pepper looked over at the other woman, noting how Natasha was looking down into the bowl thoughtfully. It was odd, since she could swear that Natasha had been pushing her to do exactly what she was asking since the last kidnapping.
They were starting to become annoying, really.
“Well, I changed my mind. You’re the best one to do this for me, being human and a woman.” Pepper took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully. “Besides, I trust you.”
Blue eyes finally rose to meet Pepper’s, and there was a slight start of a smile on Natasha’s lips. “You do?”
“Implicitly.”
That received a full-fledged grin, teeth and all. “Then meet me in the gym 10 a.m. on Saturday. Dress comfortably for an educational ass-kicking.”
***
The breath rushed out of Pepper’s lungs as she yet again hit the mat, back stinging. Okay, so she might have been rash in mentioning her moderate level of kickboxing know-how. After all, the amount she gained from training infrequently with Happy would most likely never come close to what Natasha knew.
“You okay?” Natasha came into view, worry on her face.
Pepper laughed, breathy and gasping. “I’m fine, ‘Tasha. Just getting tired.”
Worry was replaced with sly amusement. “Already? We’ve only been at this for,” she glanced at the clock at the back of the gym, “an hour or so. That’s hardly anything.”
“For you!” Pepper held out her arm. “Now help me up.”
“Poor baby.”
Despite the teasing words, Natasha wrapped warm fingers around her wrist and pulled. Something about the angle was off, because Pepper found that her concurrent leg push overbalanced her, causing her to fall until she was flush against Natasha, face practically buried in the other woman’s neck. Smooth skin, slick with sweat, rested against her lips.
Pepper stiffened, then pulled back as though burned. She was looking into very wide eyes. They probably looked just like hers. “Oh, god, I’m sorry.”
Natasha gave a long, slow blink, before shrugging with a half smile. “It’s okay, Pepper. No need to apologize. Everyone falls sometimes.”
Pepper nodded. Everything was back to normal. Good. “That’s a good way to look at it.” Standing, she quickly wiped her damp hands off on her sweatpants. “So, same time next weekend?”
“Sure thing.”
As she left, Pepper licked her lips, and something jumped in her stomach at the taste of salt that remained on them.
***
Next weekend didn’t happen, thanks to the Avengers being needed. Pepper was still able to drag Natasha out for the shopping trip they had planned during the week, though.
It was when they were trying on dresses, trading ridiculous theories on just why supervillains did certain things, that Pepper flashed back to that day in the gym. Natasha was in yet another little black number, turning this way and that before the mirror, and Pepper found that she couldn’t look away. She licked her lips, remembering salt and smooth skin -
“Pep? You okay?” Natasha was looking at her in the mirror.
Pepper started to shake her head, then, realizing that the motion was not a good answer to the question Natasha had asked, nodded instead. “I’m fine. Just remembering something I left at the office.”
“Uh-huh.” A graceful eyebrow rose. “You know, that was a very badly done lie.”
Pepper sighed, then rubbed a hand over her face. “It’s not important, that’s all.”
“I’ll call that one and a half, both terrible.”
Something about the tone brought Pepper’s eyes back to Natasha’s in the mirror. It was then that Pepper noticed that Natasha actually looked frustrated. Her hands were even clenching at her sides.
“What’s wrong?”
The hands slowly released. “I guess I just expect a certain amount of reciprocity, Pepper.”
Pepper’s eyebrows drew down in confusion. “What?”
Natasha finally turned around so that they could actually look at each other instead of reflections. “I haven’t lied to you. Why do you insist on lying to me?”
Pepper swallowed, then shook her head. Despite her earlier doubts about this friendship, Natasha had followed her one stipulation to the letter. Now here Pepper was breaking it herself. Badly. Her stomach churned unpleasantly. “I’m sorry.”
Natasha accepted the apology gracefully and quickly changed the subject, expertly bringing back the camaraderie with choice phrases and smiles. Pepper played along, but she couldn’t quite shake the guilt.
***
“Hey, Pep, what’s up with you lately?”
Pepper looked over at Tony, who, surprisingly, was offering a sandwich and chips from upstairs. It even looked like it was her favorite. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Obviously not as much as with you. You remembered my favorite sandwich. Where’s the pod?”
“In the closet, behind the shoe rack.” Tony placed the plate on her desk, close enough to grab. “No, really, Sassafras, is something wrong? You haven’t bugged me for over a week about signing papers or anything.”
Pepper worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she debated about what to tell him. They were still close, but this was - different. Something separate. “I just -” She sighed. “How are you able to just accept attraction?”
Tony’s eyes widened. “Um, no clue. I usually just go with it. No regrets, all in. But you know that.”
Pepper swallowed. “Even if they’re the same gender as you?”
If this wasn’t such an important conversation, Pepper would have felt quite proud at managing to make Tony speechless. It was a rare occasion that he would stand there slack-jawed, eyebrows making a run for it toward his hairline at a simple statement.
Instead, she just rolled her eyes. “Geez, Tony, stop drooling over the mental image and help me out here.”
“Guh.” Tony’s eyes glazed over just a bit. “I didn’t start having them until you mentioned it.”
Pepper took a chip from the plate and chucked it at him, proud when it bounced right off his forehead. “Focus.”
Tony shook himself. “Okay, fine, I’ll be good.” He turned his I’m-good-and-actually-listening look on her. “Anyway, who’s the lucky girl?” Pepper had only just opened her mouth to answer when it obviously hit him. She could see the lightbulb flash on over his head and everything. “Wait, you’re talking about Natasha?”
Pepper saw no sense in denying it. “Is there a problem with that?”
Tony’s eyes glazed over again and he emphatically shook his head. “Of course not. Just...wow. That would be -”
Pepper held up a hand. “Please, just stop. You fantasizing is not helping me here.”
“Well, it might be helping me a bit,” he said, laughing.
“Still not helping me, though.”
Tony’s expression turned serious. “Pepper, you know that the only advice I’m going to give you is to go for whatever you want.”
“And how do I know if that’s what I want?”
Tony just shrugged. “How will you know if you don’t try?”
Well, Pepper figured that made as perfect sense as any.
***
That Saturday, Pepper found herself hitting the mat again, breath rushing out. Same sting, same worried expression coming into her vision.
“Don’t tell me you’re tired again, Ms. Potts.”
“We’ve been at this for longer than an hour this time, Ms. Romanoff.” Pepper smiled.
Blue eyes quickly ticked down, then back up, widening slightly. “Yeah,” Natasha said softly, as though answering a completely different answer. “You’re getting better.”
“Thank you.” Pepper held out her arm. “Some help, please.”
Natasha shook her head, holding up her hands. “No can do.”
The arm dropped. “Why?”
“You seemed to have an issue last time I helped.”
Even though both Natasha’s face and tone were teasing, Pepper could tell there was a hint of something unpleasant there. Maybe hurt? Taking a deep breath, she decided to actually take Tony’s advice. “What if I promised not to have any this time?” she asked softly.
Blue eyes narrowed slightly. “How can you guarantee that?”
Reaching out, Pepper lightly touched the knee that was in reach. “Because everyone falls sometimes, ‘Tasha.”
Confusion flitted across Natasha’s features. “Pep, did I accidentally hit you in the head or something?”
Rolling her eyes, Pepper swung herself up, moving until she was face to face with Natasha, only a couple of inches separating them. “No,” she said simply, before leaning in and pressing their lips together. Huh, so that was what another woman’s lips felt like. Pepper heard herself make a little sound as tilted her head slightly and sucked softly on the lower lip, wanting to get any reaction from the still mouth under hers.
When a hesitant hand curled around her neck, Pepper felt a thrill of victory. Then she was swept away as Natasha moved to press flush against her, mouth opening to work in what had to be an effort to swallow Pepper whole. Sliding a hand up to grip Pepper’s waist, Natasha rose up fully on her knees, dragging Pepper along willingly by touch and tongue.
Pepper had to admit that the new position was better, allowing not only their breasts to touch, but also their lower stomach and thighs. Her hands itched to touch, so she did, placing one on a trim waist and threading the other into the long straight hair - much different than when they had first met as Pepper and Natalie. It was soft, tangling around her fingers almost in an invitation to pull. So, she did, gently, causing Natasha to make a surprised gasp into her mouth.
Pepper couldn’t imagine ever doing this with Natalie, but Natasha -
Suddenly, Natasha pulled away. Her lips were glistening and swollen, and her eyes were blown. Pepper groaned and tried to follow, but the hand that appeared on her chest, pressing at her breastbone, stopped her.
“Pepper, stop,” Natasha said, her voice low and raspy.
“Why?” Pepper knew her voice sounded like a needy whine, but she didn’t care.
The hand didn’t move. “You don’t want this.”
Pepper glared. “Don’t tell me what I want.”
It was obvious that Natasha was cooling off, the flush fading slightly. “Have you ever even been with a girl before?”
“No,” Pepper admitted. She could see where this was going, and it caused her stomach to sink.
“Then what makes you think you want me?”
Thinking past the fact that the hand was so warm on her chest, burning through her damp loose t-shirt, Pepper looked into those dilated blue eyes. Despite how generally secretive their owner was, they had not shown anything but truth since she had asked for it. It was a gift from one of the best liars on the planet, and Pepper could not deny how addictive she found that. How much it made her want. “I just do,” she said, going with the simplest answer.
“But you’re straight.”
Pepper took her hand out of Natasha’s hair, placing it over the one holding her away. “Maybe not so much, because I want you anyway,” she said, gently stroking the smooth fingers.
This time Natasha’s eyes narrowed. “Do you really even know what you would be getting into? Playing with another woman’s breasts? Eating pussy instead of sucking cock? Having only toys fuck you or fucking me with toys?” Her grin turned sultry and sly. “Have you even fingered yourself?”
“Yes, I have, and it was pretty good,” Pepper said defiantly after a moment of staring, even as she squirmed just a bit. She could feel herself becoming even more aroused. For some reason, acts that she had not really looked at as options suddenly became pretty attractive when spoken in Natasha’s smooth tones. Her own look turned challenging. “I could show you.”
Natasha stiffened, and it looked like she stopped breathing. When the slight flush that had been fading moved right back in, Pepper grinned proudly, allowing her own voice to drip with seduction. “Yes, you would like that, wouldn’t you? The little straight girl showing you what her fingers can do.”
The resistance at Pepper’s breastbone disappeared, and suddenly she found herself yet again in lip lock with the Natasha. This time, though, she didn’t hesitate, sliding her hand up to tangle in Pepper’s hair as she invaded Pepper’s mouth.
The second time that she pulled back, it was only far enough to say, “You better not just be using me to experiment.”
“I’m not. Just trust me.” Pepper already knew that it wasn’t the case. Shuddering, she reached a hand up to slide a thumb over a peaked nipple, delighting in the choked off sound it caused. Still, the dampness made her grimace slightly, as she remembered that they had been moving around quite a lot before they started other things. “So, what do you say we continue this in a shower somewhere?”
Natasha’s open smile as she gracefully stood, reaching down, was probably the most beautiful things that Pepper had ever seen. “I guess we could use mine.”