TITLE: When the King of Atlantis Gave His Heart Away
GENRE: Romance/Humor
CHARACTERS: Stacy, House
PAIRING: House/Stacy
RATING: R
SPOILERS: none
WORDS: 900
SUMMARY: House and Stacy on vacation on the Bahamas.
A/N: 100 Situations Challenge, Prompt #043: Dive
She watched closely as he again and again emerged from and descended into the sea, while he threw his athletic body through the warm summer air and the dazzling turquoise water. He was lousy when it came to pretending he wasn't trying, whenever he wanted to impress her. He always had been.
The constant looks he flashed her inconspicuously—but not inconspicuously enough—told her everything she needed to know. Stacy had to laugh quietly at the sight of her self-proclaimed King of Atlantis.
After a few minutes of watching him, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the warm sun on her skin. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so relaxed, and had to admit that this vacation was badly needed for Greg and herself, just to escape the draining everyday life of their jobs for some time.
She slipped off into a pleasant slumber when the sun suddenly disappeared. Drops of water landed on her body and were a welcome cooling, but she wouldn't let him know that. "Greg, get out of the sun," she commanded with her eyes still closed.
"How do you know it's me?" House asked, letting his snorkel fall down in the sand next to Stacy's deck chair.
She opened her eyes and looked around. "Because there's nobody else here except us."
House looked around the deserted beach as well and nodded. "Here, for you." He turned back to her and handed her a small stone with his dripping hand.
She eyed it briefly. "Great, I thought you were looking for a nice shell for me, and all I get is a stupid stone."
"Everybody gets what they deserve." He settled down on the deck chair next to hers, closed his eyes, and savored the feeling of the sun slowly absorbing the water from his body and leaving a tiny, salty prickle on it.
"Thanks," she said ironically and observed Greg in the sun.
"It's a heart."
"What?" Stacy brought the stone back to her eyes and looked more closely.
"A heart," he repeated.
"I heard you, but the thing is that not by any stretch of imagination can I see a heart here." She let the roundish stone wander through her fingers.
House sat up again and took the stone from her hand. He held it right between their faces and made use of his forefinger. "There's the subclavian artery, that's the aortic arch, and there are even the two cardiac auricles."
Stacy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "How romantic," she said flatly.
A mischievous grin formed slowly on his face and let two dimples appear. "I didn't promise you any more than a heart."
"And I didn't expect any more from you."
"Yes, you did," he teased.
She made this dismissive, sibilant sound that she always made when she was annoyed with him in an amicable way. He loved it, and every time she did it, it prodded him anew to do something annoying, just so he could hear it once more.
Slowly he climbed onto Stacy's deck chair and let his still slightly wet body drop on top of hers.
"Ah!" Stacy exclaimed breathlessly. "You're crushing me!"
"Last night you seemed to like that," House replied with a seductive voice near Stacy's ear, and let out a small breath of arousal onto her skin.
She pushed with her hands against his chest and managed to gently shove him away a bit. "But not here," she hissed.
He grinned again. From Stacy's perspective his skin glistened in the sunlight, and a few grains of sand got stuck to it. She captured this picture of him for eternity, stored it safely in her head.
House pressed his upper body against the palms of her hands until she eventually surrendered. He took a bit of his weight off her when he leaned down to her again. Slowly he kissed a trail from her collarbone to her right ear.
A small moan escaped Stacy and she threw her arms around his body. She didn't know whether she wanted to push him away or pull him closer to her. She placed a tender kiss on his neck. He tasted of sun and salt and of the sweetish trace of sweat that always developed when they got closer to each other that she loved so much.
Stacy enjoyed the intense feeling of his lips on her skin for some seconds, and could feel the beginning of an erection through his swimming trunks. She took his head in both hands when he started to cover her cleavage with small, passionate kisses. "Hey," she said gently while forcing him to look her in the eyes.
"There's nobody here," he said, defending his intention.
"Yes, but they will surely climb out of their holes if we go on with this." She smiled at him.
"But I gave you my heart," he protested softly and affectionately. He nudged her ear with his lips as if this was justification enough.
"If you find me a nicer one—and I don't mean that in terms of anatomy—we might talk about sex in public spaces again."
"I'm tempted to start looking immediately." He gave her a quick peck on the lips and climbed off her deck chair. He asked himself whether she sensed that he already gave her the best of all hearts long time ago as he watched her from the side, how she slowly closed her eyes again and let the sun dry her skin.
END