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“Miss Potts?”
“Yes, Jarvis?” Pepper was reading a legal briefing over patenting issues and was eager for the interruption, even from her non-corporeal AI friend.
“Miss Natasha Romanov is requesting an audience.”
“Right now?”
“Indeed. She is in the lobby.”
Unprompted, Jarvis put the front desk security video feed up on her desktop monitor. Indeed, Natasha was casually leaning against the front desk ignoring a rather disgruntled Patrick in favor or staring straight at the camera. As if she could tell Pepper had just begun watching, Natasha smiled slightly. It was shy for her standards and meant to be non-threatening even if Pepper didn’t believe it for a second.
Pepper was curious more than anything and months after Tony’s DreamTeam discovery, she knew Nat was to be trusted.
“Let her up.”
Pepper watched Patrick give a resigned sigh before informing Natasha to go up the Stark Industries elevators. She looked around to make sure the office was presentable for a former spy/assassin/current safe haven director which was silly. Her office was always pristine. The personal room hidden behind the bookcase? Not so much. But only she, Jarvis, Rhodey, and Tony ever went in there.
The sound of her glass doors being opened shook Pep from her uncharacteristic nervousness.
“Miss. Potts, thank you for seeing me.”
“Miss Romanov. What can I do for you?”
“Honestly it was an impromptu thing. I went to A-Z Bakery to grab some donuts for Tony only to find he had already been whisked away by one or both of his boy toys.”
“I find it hard to believe you trekked from Brooklyn without knowing if Tony was free, especially given the culprits who stole him away are your coworkers and alleged family.”
Natasha almost smiled at being called out. It was barely a twitch but a facial expression Pepper was familiar with on her own facade. They both waited for Natasha to explain her true purpose of coming.
“You are right, of course. I supposed I am out of practice in the subterfuge. I…I am here rather impulsively for semi-personal reasons…”
Pepper’s eyebrows went up. Natasha almost seemed nervous, something Pepper had rarely seen in the year of knowing her. Granted most of their interactions have been in passing dealing with the shenanigans of the one and only Tony Stark, but still. Nerves looked unnatural on Natasha Romanov, although kind of cute.
“Join me on the couch then. If this is personal I hardly need to parade behind my Stark Industries nameplate.”
“That nameplate says Tony Stark,” Nat snarked.
“Only to the blind, Miss Romanov. Only to the blind.”
Once they settled on the velvet couch much too nice for an office space, Natasha pulled out a box of donuts and presented them.
“Oh lovely. You got the lemon blueberry ones. My favorite.”
“Yes, Tony told me.”
“WOW so you did research. Now I’m really curious.”
“I have a proposition for you. But I…find you surprisingly intimidating.”
The redheaded sub paused for a bit too long. Pepper found the way her nerves manifested adorable given Tony had shared her suspected death toll. For some reason that didn’t phase Pepper at all.
“I don’t find that surprising.”
“It is for me,” Natasha said with almost confused desperation. “I think…I think I’m attracted to you.”
“I’m flattered.” Pepper wasn’t not blushing underneath a pristine layer of concealer. “You are a stunning woman, Miss Romanov.”
“Natasha please. When you call me Miss Romanov it makes me want to do things to you.”
“Mmm well…I wouldn’t be opposed, Miss Romanov.”
“Really?” Natasha whipped her head so fast her red curled bounced.
“Certainly. I take it you like to take charge in the bedroom?”
“Yes, always. It tends to deter most doms.”
“Pity for them. Lucky for me. I assume you are proposing just sex? No romance and no subspace?”
“Definitely no subspace. Not now at least. Thor—Mr. Odinson—helps me stay leveled and well…”
“We don’t know each other that well…yet.”
“Quite. And I am…I am aromantic. The flowers and candle light dinners don’t do much for me, personally.”
“How about corporate takedowns and making doms cry?”
“Pardon?”
“Those are much more my cup of tea for having a good time than a fancy meal out anyways. We don’t need to date — I’m simply offering alternatives.”
“It would be my pleasure to help you take a few doms down a few pegs.” Natasha’s previous bashfulness fell away to a devilish eagerness that lit something inside Pepper.
“Are you free now, Miss Romanov?”
“Free for one thing and one thing only if you keep calling me that, Miss Potts.”
“Promises promises…”
___________
They hadn’t told anyone they were seeing each other regularly, which of course meant all the Avengers knew. Pepper had forgotten to turn on privacy protocols with Jarvis that first time she and Natasha had christened the couch, so Tony delighted in teasing her about it when he saw her the next morning. He promised not to tell anyone including his boys because Natasha seemed nervous about it, but the former spy told Clint and then it snowballed from there.
They saw each other weekly usually for a sex filled sleepover followed by some corporate girlbossing and eliciting some corporate tears. Three months in Pepper decided she should be the one to make the next move.
Natasha found Pepper’s rudimentary front door lock amusing and never knocked, preferring instead to pick it and let herself in. There was, of course, a much higher level of security operated by Jarvis but Pepper had given Natasha unlimited entry so she was let in. So it was the clicking of her lock being broken into that alerted Pepper of her soon to be guest.
“You know I might actually have a problem if a burglar breaks in. The sound of my lock being picked makes my body think good things are coming,” Pepper said from the living room couch. On the coffee table was a box of A-Z Bakery’s donuts — one of each of their favorites.
“Good things huh? Have you been good, Pep?” Natasha sauntered over to the couch straddling the quasi-CEO.
“For you? Always.”
“We both know that isn’t true. And today you brought a bribe.”
“Not because I did something bad. Because I want something better.”
“Mhm, am I not treating you well enough?”
“You are treating me perfectly. I just want to make it a sure thing.”
Natasha’s hands stilled from Pepper’s hair where she was slowly removing all the pins that kept everything in a tight bun.
“A sure thing…”
“Natasha Romanov, would you be my girlfriend?” Pepper didn’t seem nervous but Natasha felt her fingers twitch where they were resting on her thighs.
“Are you sure?”
“Very. But why wouldn’t I be?”
“We have never been on a date.”
“Maybe not a typical one. I know I had a good time playing footsie under the conference table while ripping into the last Fortune 500 CEO. I know I enjoy breakfasts after sleepovers. I know I don’t need candle lit dinners to enjoy your company. Girlfriend can mean whatever we want it to mean.”
“What about scenes?”
“If you ever feel safe enough to sub for me, I would be honored to be there for you. But I am in no rush. We are far from typical women and I see no need to break that trend when it comes to our relationships. If you prefer to keep subspace separate and remain in control in our relationship, that is more than okay with me.”
“You are serious.”
“And I brought donuts.”
“I—I would love to be your girlfriend if you are satisfied with what we have going.”
“More than.”
“Then yes. Yes, I’ll be your girlfriend.”
By the end of the hour there was red lipstick all over both their bodies like leopard print and box was left only with crumbs inside.
_________
Another six months later, the boys were engaged and Pepper was the official CEO of Stark Industries. Nat had helped Pepper negotiate a deal with some California-based engineering company that left them both feeling hot and bothered. They only made it back to the secret room behind the bookcase but at least had turned on privacy protocols so Jarvis couldn’t narc on them to Tony.
They were both twisted up in the satin sheets with Pepper draped on top of her girlfriend. Nat had become a bit obsessed with the CEO’s hair, marveling in making it as messy as possible during their time together, the opposite of the sleek ponytail or bun she wore to work.
“I think I’d like to try a scene,” the sub said seemingly out of nowhere.
Pepper didn’t move and tried to slow her heart rate so she wouldn’t betray how much she was excited by the possibility.
“I’d love to, Natasha. What do you like from scenes?”
“Thor just does standard stuff — kneeling, praise, tucking me into bed. I don’t usually like cuddling.”
“Really?” Pepper said, lifting her head and pushing away. They had been cuddling since almost day one.
“Come back here. It’s different after sex. I was in charge and can still feel in charge cuddling. When dropped I’m at someone else’s mercy and cuddling can feel…suffocating.”
“That makes sense. So you enjoy praise and kneeling and then end a scene being tucked in bed. What about feeding or doing your hair?”
“Easy feeding is good but no messy foods. Nobody has ever done my hair. But we could try it.”
“You love playing with mine. I wondered if you might like the same treatment.”
Natasha hummed, pulling her long fingers through Pepper’s stick straight strands.
“So you want to try?”
“In my eyes, we have been trying. All we have left to do is do.”
“Tony would berate you for messing up that Star Wars quote.”
“And I would remind Tony I was not quoting Star Wars and I am in fact a wise individual all on my lonesome.”
“Let’s do this then. We can work out a contract tomorrow morning before I bend you over your desk?”
“Sounds perfect.”
____________
They were contracted within the week. Natasha—or rather Miss Romanov—took charge in the bedroom and Pepper took charge in the living room where they scened. And they tag teamed dominance whenever they attended anything Stark Industries affiliated.
Tony and Clint began playing drinking games (with bites of their donuts instead of shots) during SI board meetings. The rules were as follows:
* Bite whenever you catch the Reds (Pepper and Natasha’s new couples name) playing footsie
* Bite whenever the Reds are eye fucking
* Bite whenever the Reds make anyone cry — two bites when they do it together
* Bite whenever the Reds make sexual innuendos — two bites if no board members notice
* Bite whenever the Reds communicate nonverbally
Needless to say they went through a lot of donut orders. The boys only stopped the game when Pepper replaced the sweet treats with a veggie platter.