He brushed his hand against her hair again, fascinated when he found some still dry in spite of their exertions - tucked up in her braid, undoubtedly. He wanted to see what it looked like dry and loose and down around her shoulders. It was a surprisingly erotic image that had little to do with sex: it was something new, something he wanted to explore in much greater detail as soon as reasonably possible.
It was only inevitable that once his mind had full reign to think of such things - while he fantasized healthily, he did at least try to be just professional enough that they could still work together - it jumped right back to details. Fantasy, however, had nothing on raw, hard data, and that's what he craved. Especially since the data in question was sex.
"Good, because Dave down in R&D has Employee of the Year all wrapped up," he had to quip. He was going to have sex with Pepper: he could only be so serious about it.
Even if - as usual - she was right. He hadn't had sex in a long time, due to scars, RT unit, and fascination with the armor consuming his interest instead of sex that he'd done before. And yes, he was drinking less, for much the same reason; he couldn't solder very tiny circuits in gauntlets while drunk. The armor had become his outlet.
And even he knew that having only one outlet was a very bad idea. It was basic engineering; have a backup vent, in case the primary one became fouled or clogged, because it was either vent pressure or explode. And with her... he had to touch her again, answering hers against his cheek, rubbing his thumb along her cheekbone. "This is extreme. I do well with extreme," he agreed quietly. "And as for us...I trust you." Which made her perfectly qualified for this.
To say nothing of the soft skin and the red hair and the big eyes and the surprising strength. "I also do extremely well with sex and we deserve some fun," he added cheerfully.