DISCLAIMERS APPLY: I DO NOT OWN HOUSE, MD

"Why do you need to negate everything?" Cuddy's watery eyes were looking up at House full of anger and accusation. She was demanding an answer from him, one which he was unwilling to give to her.

A series of thoughts went through his head: "Because I love you and I cannot let you know it! I'm a miserable bastard and I will never be happy." But his innermost secrets were not something he could verbalize.

Instead, at a loss for words and frightened by her raw emotion, he simply answered, "I don't know."

Cuddy, taken aback by his honesty and lack of the usual nasty, witty response, looked up at him, begging him for comfort. House stared back for what seemed like an eternity. He could see it in her eyes. Him. She wanted him. And how he did want to comfort her. He knew pain. But he did not know how to do so.

Then he looked at her lips and his control snapped. He had to kiss her; had to take her lips and mesh them with his own. To pull her body close to his and feel the woman he had lusted after for twenty-something years. When he did, Cuddy put up no restraint, just gave herself to him. Her pure, sweet kisses with a dark demand underneath.

But reality took over and House remembered who he was. He inwardly cursed himself for allowing her to see him so vulnerable. She was wounded from losing Joy and for once, they connected in their pain.

Slowly, he released her lips, and backed away. It took every ounce of restraint he had. As a drug addict he literally did not think that he possessed such self-control. But he did. He muttered a lame "goodbye" as he let himself out of her house and shut the front door behind himself.

Cuddy stood in her hallway, astonished at what had just happened. She had been in love with House since she was in medical school. If she truly admitted it to herself, he was the reason that none of her relationships ever worked out. She always blamed break-ups on her studies, or her job, but really, when things became too serious she panicked. She belonged to House, as much as she hated to admit it. As much as she wished it was not true.

Cuddy used her finger and felt her own lip where his had just been, to verify that his kiss had been real. It felt so natural, so comfortable to kiss him. As much as she loathed herself for it, if it were up to her, she would have kept that kiss going, dragging House back to her bedroom, had he not have run away. An alarm bell went off in her head about her current emotional state. She should not make any rash decisions when she was this upset. But Cuddy honestly did not care. She had waited too long to pass up her opportunity with House.

Without any warning, her front door swung open again. Cuddy looked up, startled, and watched as House slammed the door and walked with determination towards her.

"Hou-" Cuddy asked, barely even able to question him before his lips were back on hers, harder and more passionate than before. She returned the kiss in kind and the last of both of their reservations were dispelled. House pinned Cuddy to her wall, startling a cry from her, and he began kissing her neck, making her moan. She ran her fingers through his coarse, graying hair and pulled his face even closer to hers. House grabbed Cuddy's hips, making her cry out when he pressed himself against her delicate place.

Unable and unwilling to stand against a wall anymore, House picked Cuddy up, his mouth still on hers, his breath still hot on her neck, and carried her to her bedroom, gently placing her on the bed as he sat beside her. She tugged at his leather motorcycle jacket, desperate to get it off of him and to touch him. She ripped at his blue oxford, snapping some buttons.

"Shhh," House silenced her with his lips. He knew she was angry and hurt and was taking out her emotional pain on him physically. But he wanted to make love to her slowly. He wanted her to remember every second of it. He grabbed the back of her head and looked into her eyes. Cuddy took a deep breath and he knew he had calmed her down.

Slowly he rolled on top of her and began kissing her mouth and neck, leisurely moving to her waist where her sweatpants began. Gently he tugged them off of her, and she lifted her hips in response, the two of them never taking their eyes off of each other. House's mouth was back on her waist, and his whiskers were scratching her bellybutton. Cuddy's breathing became shallow and she grasped his hair while he pulled her sweater off, bringing her chest upright to his. He kissed her mouth as he deftly undid her bra, and the sensation of their bare chests against each other's was pure bliss. He undid her ponytail and ran his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp. Her sweet moaning and their heavy breathing were the only sounds in the room. Then House laid her back down on the bed and trailed kisses from her collarbone to her breasts, giving each ample attention. Cuddy's moans were almost too much for him to bear. She needed to touch him, and he needed to be freed from his restrictive jeans. Sitting up, she undid his zipper, and he kicked the offending object off. Then he grabbed her foot and kissed his way up to her thigh, making her arch her back in anticipation. She gasped when his mouth disappeared, and started on the other foot, moving up towards her core.

"Stop teasing me, House," she rasped.

That was all the motivation he needed. He mouth was watering with the want of tasting her. He drove her over the edge with his deft tongue, and her cries of euphoria were too much for him too take. He had to be inside of her. She gasped and wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him thrust deeper and deeper until they both went over the edge.