Chapter 21
Few days go by and Carol knew that she was at first, pushing her luck.
She has been waiting on Tony to mention the fact, that he found her in his bed more times that he didn’t.
Sometimes in the middle of the night he would wake up and stroke a hand along her back, or her hip. Sometimes he runs his fingers through her hair.
She pretends to sleep every time, not knowing if she's scared that he'll pretend it didn't happen or if she's scared he'll force her to acknowledge that it did. Still, he hasn't mentioned it.
Now, they are lying on lounge chairs near the shore line and she's reapplying her sunscreen. Tony's wearing blue swimming trunks and she's wearing a black bikini.
Her own skin has a nice, dark tan while his is just few shades darker then it was before. Still, it's more color than he usually has and she enjoys it.
She can feel Tony's eyes on her and she almost wants to turn around and look.
She enjoys it when he watches her. He only does it when he thinks she won't notice. Like, if they're watching a movie, or if she's reading a book.
She knows that she loves him.
She feels safe with him. She feels alive. She feels like she is home.
She wasn’t sure about her feelings for him back at San Francisco. She knew she liked him as more then a friend, but here… She realized that she truly loves him.
Tony again, wakes up in middle of a night. Carol is on the other side of his bed. No surprise there. At this point… they don’t even try to pretend, that they have separate room anymore.
He is pretty sure, that she has the same feelings for him as he has for her. Otherwise she wouldn’t be in bed with him right now.
He uses this time in the middle of night for thinking…
Rhodey now fully operates as War Machine for the Air Force again.
He has met his Pantheriness on one of his missions in Africa. T’Challa was there hunting stolen Vibranium while Rhodey was taking care of some Arms dealer.
They helped each other out and T’Challa actually asked about Tony. Apparently he learned about the aftermath that his fight against Rogers had on him.
The Young King feels deeply sorry, that he didn’t check up on Tony and just assumed, that he would be okay and safely returned back to US on his own.
It wasn’t hard to figure out that T’Challa still had Barnes in his possession. So Tony send him one of his BARF device and a latter saying apology accepted.
And he truly means it.
Maybe someday, he and T’Challa can become good friends.
Tony is brought back out of his thoughts as Carol makes adorable sound in her sleep
Then, without thinking about it, he reaches for her, turning onto his side. He wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her to him.
He moves forward, meeting her body halfway so that he has less of a chance to wake her. He's not sure that would be a wise move.
Carol can be grumpy when she is woken up.
He presses his chest against her back, curling his body around her and using his feet to grab the edges of the cover and pull it higher. He hasn't done it since he was a child but he can still remember hiding under the blanket so the monsters couldn't find you.
He's thankful that the arc reactor was removed from his chest a few years ago. If it was still there, surely, the hard metal and warm light would wake her.
Tony stops for a moment to rethink that.
Can she even feel cold? She was in space for 20 years after all.
He moves his head to her hair and plants a light kiss to it
“I love you” he whispers, thinking she is sleeping.
And to his shock and embarrassment. She turns to him, looking at him with wide eyes.
Tony is still frozen to his spot before she presses up slightly, pressing a kiss to his lips.
It takes a moment for him to realize what’s happening before he returns the kiss. He closes his eyes and he can feel her smiling.
“I love you to” she whispers when they broke apart.
Then she moves back and burrows into his arms, pressing her face to his chest and tangling her legs with his.
He smiles to himself and relaxes. As he closes his eyes he realizes something.
Ever since she sleeps with him, he didn’t have any nightmares.
His smile only widens as he holds her tighter.
Tony is aware that their time here is slowly coming to an end.
He loved his time in Bahamas. He is sure that they will visit sometime soon again, with Friday and Vision to.
Heck… maybe he will even steal little Bartons, Keeners and Parker.
He is sure that the kids would love it here.
Carol is facing away from him and he's wrapped around her securely. He knows that at the first sign of movement she'll wake up and he wants her to sleep as long as she wants.
He tries to move his hips away from hers without disturbing her further but she rolls over quickly, throwing a leg over his hip as she wraps an arm around him.
"If you move, I'll hurt you." She tells him in a husky voice. He freezes automatically. She snuggles up to him contentedly, a purr escaping her throat as if she's a cat.
After a moment she speaks again. "Do we really have to leave?"
Tony chuckles because he's not surprised she is thinking along the same lines as he is.
“Yes, kids are missing us. Jo told everybody at home what has been happening here.”
Carol gives him a pouty face before she jokingly yells “That little shit.”
“Tell her, I love her to, Chief” Jocasta says through Extremis in amused voice.
Tony roles his eyes with chuckle “She says, she loves you to”
Carol just smiles before she moves closer to him and gives him quick kiss. She then stands up and quickly throws on some clothes.
“I’m making breakfast today”
Before Tony can say something she jumps out of the room and he falls back onto the sheets, staring at the ceiling for a few moments.
He is happy.