Pepper looked uncertain and her eyes momentarily darted away from his own as he held her hand against the gentle warmth of the reactor in his chest. She wasn't sure if it would be such a very good idea. As his personal assistant, she could explain away being here at such an impossibly early hour simply because he had need of her. She could use it as an explanation of why it was okay for her to bathe his heated skin and allow him to pillow his head in her lap. She was simply taking care of him! Exactly what he'd hired her to do. Surely no one could fault her for that.
But to lay down with him? To curl up into the warmth of his arms? To lay her head against his shoulder and drift off back to sleep? To hold him and run her hands across his back and arms out of comfort? Was that really the kind of behavior that was acceptable from an assistant?
Oh, Pepper. When are you going to realize that there has always been so much more to this relationship than a mere assistant? Whether you would like to admit it or not.
The young woman sighed and her eyes returned back to his. They were so soft and weak...such desperate need and sickness there. How could she actually refuse so small a request.
Not saying anything, Pepper slipped her hand out from beneath his own. For a moment he might have thought she was leaving as she rose from her place on the bed. However, bending down, she hooked a finger in the back of her shoe and slipped it off...changing feet to then remove the other as well. Then, keeping her eyes lowered from his own lest she should lose her resolve or have him see the soft blush that warmed her cheeks, she carefully crawled her way into bed alongside of him. Stretching her body out atop of the sheets where he lay, she reached up to wrap her arm softly about him, her hand moving to rest against his upper arm which she stroked in a soothing up and down caress. Those green eyes slipped closed and she shifted, pulling her body in just a bit closer towards his and feeling the effect it had on her heartbeat.