Ok, so here we go: Chapter 4, LAST chapter of this story!

Is that sex? Yes, undeniably…

Is that more than just that? Well, I hope it is, and above all, that I managed to convey it was in the right way…

I hope you'll enjoy reading it!

And thank you, THANK YOU, to everyone who has reviewed this story or added it in their favorites. I feel much honored to have you as readers…

** REDEEM ME **

Chapter 4

"Uhm, I'm not sure… Can you do that again?"

She rose on her tiptoes and their lips came in contact again. He closed his eyes, a perfect feeling of warmth pervading him and they kissed, languorously, and almost hesitantly, while their tongues explored, and slowly tasted each other's tang. Cuddy moaned through House's lips and wound her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist. The pace of their kisses became more demanding and passionate and he tightened his embrace, pressing her against him, while she combed his hair with her fingers, and scratched his skull. Their breathing sped up, and there, irresistibly, he felt it, building up everywhere in his body. It felt as if each one of his cells were a microscopic light bulb coming to life within the sensation of him finally holding her, having her, possessing her. It was raw and violent and already more powerful than anything he'd have expected, even in his wildest fantasies. That woman was a dangerous bewitching creature and with one kiss, she had captured him under her spell. Gently, already missing the touch of her tongue on his tongue, House broke away from their kiss and rubbed his nose against hers, panting against her bottom lip.

"You sure you really want this?" he couldn't help but ask her one last time.

He knew that, if it'd go any further, even for just one more kiss, he would never be able to turn back, and the last thing he wanted in that moment was to hope beyond reason for something that wouldn't happen. It felt stupid to ask at this point but, somehow, the stakes were so high, he just had to.

Cuddy cupped his cheeks inside her hands, and tilted his face down, as she planted her yearning gaze on his.

"Shut up, House," she commanded. "Just make love to me, now."

There was a sort of urgency in her voice that was impossible not to notice. It instantly triggered a chemical reaction inside him, a mix of electric impulses and tickling shivers running everywhere on the surface of his skin.

He smiled and took her hand in his and they hurried to his room stumbling their way through the pile of random items lying everywhere on the floor along the way. There, he led her to the side of his bed and took one step back to study her perfect petite frame standing expectantly in front of him, as he was trying to decide what his next move should be. He looked her up and down, drinking her in reverently, and then gently pressed on her shoulders, motioning her to sit down on the edge of the mattress. He kneeled down at her feet and took one of her shoes inside his hands, slowly taking it off. She was barefoot and he noticed the dark nail polish that adorned her lovely, gracious toes. A hidden proof of that little grain of careless madness he loved so much about her. He caressed her foot, leisurely stroking its sole and enveloping her heel in the palm of his hands. She threw her head back and he let go of her foot to take care of her other shoe. Cuddy straightened up and started fumbling impatiently with the buttons of her jeans.

"No," he said with a definite tone, seizing her hands and pushing them away. "I've got this."

He didn't need to say it but, she instantly knew what he meant. It was there, unmistakable, in the intensity of his burning, almost imploring gaze: He'd waited far too long for that moment to finally happen to let anyone else take care of it.

"Ok," she answered, smiling softly.

House got up and held out his hand for her. She stood up as well and, at a snail's pace, savoring every second of it, he slowly unbuttoned her shirt. Deep, lustful breathes were making her chest rise up and down, as his dexterous fingers brushed the silkiness of her skin just between her breasts. When the last button was undone, House delicately seized the fabric, just below the collar and slid the shirt off of her shoulders and down the length of her arms. She wiggled a little to let the sleeves slide past her wrists and the flimsy fabric fell down the floor with a whoosh sound. She was wearing a dark purple lacy, underwire bra that cupped her plump breasts just perfectly, and was pushing them up in the sexiest way there was. House gasped at the sight of her, now standing almost bare-chested in front of him, and reveled in the proof of her arousal when he saw the little waves of goose bumps coursing along her skin. Cuddy let him stare at her, silently standing and, in a way, totally offered to him, awaiting his reaction; expecting it.

House looked her in the eyes, a bit unsure, as if to ask for permission. She nodded, imperceptibly, her nerves endings practically on fire, already craving his touch, like the desert craves the rain. With the utmost delicacy, as if he was manipulating crystal, he tentatively ran his thumb from the base of her neck down along her sternum, and stopped where the bra cups were joined at the center of chest by an adorable satin bow. Cuddy sucked in a sharp breath and tilted her head back. He took a step closer and kissed her neck, down her windpipe while his hands, already the masters of her body, skillfully slid around her shoulders to her back and unhooked her bra. He stepped back and helped her get rid of the sophisticated piece of underwear, letting it fall on the floor at her feet.

Now exposed to his sight, nude from the waist up, Cuddy blushed, all of a sudden feeling unusually shy. She came close to him and when she buried her face into his chest, hunching her shoulders a bit, as if to disappear into him, it completely melted his heart. He caressed her back, slowly, letting the incredibly rewarding sensation of finally feeling her skin fill him with bliss. She seized the hem of his tee-shirt and clumsily struggled to take it off. He gently pushed her hands away and took care of it himself. Now he was bare-chested in front of her too and it seemed to re-boost her feminine confidence. She rubbed herself against him, in a deliberately tantalizing way, possessively roaming his biceps and the round shape of his shoulders with the palms of her hands and it upped the lust between them a notch. Her next move - which sexily screamed 'in charge' - brought her fingers to the waist of his jeans and opening the first two buttons, hooking her thumbs into the loops next and pulling down. House froze, petrified, feeling a sudden unwanted self-consciousness invade him. She felt it and looked up, surprised, but with a mischievous smile that instantly reassured him. House kicked his sneakers off and Cuddy finished unbuttoning his jeans, pushing them down along the upper part of his thighs. Instinctively, and almost in spite of him, he couldn't help but take the lead again as soon as he felt the thick cotton fabric brush his scar. Cuddy understood his implicit restraint and let him take his pants off himself.

Standing in front of her in his boxer shorts only, the proof of his desire for her became more conspicuous than ever. Cuddy sighed lasciviously and he gently pushed her backwards on the mattress, inviting her to lie down. He bent over and took her pants off. She squirmed with delightful impatience to speed up the process and soon she was lying down beneath him, only wearing her panties. Before House finally allowed himself to lie down as well, to reap the fruits of twenty years of unconditional desire for her, he took a moment to admire the incredible view, worshipping her every curve, and experiencing what felt quite similar to the first dizzying effects of a drug high, only a thousand times better.

He finally leaned down and lay above her, with absolute precaution, heedful not to crush her and she welcomed his strapping frame inside her arms. He wanted to touch every particle of her, run his hands along every centimeter of her skin, cradle each one of her curves inside the palm of his hands, and feel her heat burn his fingers. Lying on top of her, propped on one of his elbows, and with a little help from her, he removed her panties, his deft hands knowing exactly the right gestures, and doing just the perfectly necessary moves to get her entirely naked beneath him. She had bent one of her legs at the knee and when the tiny piece of purple satin slid past her foot and House let it fall there, carelessly, he immediately refocused his attention on her, fondling the length of her leg up, feeling the smoothness of her calf, the firmness of her thigh muscle, the silkiness of the side of her hip. He buried his face into her neck, as he continued his journey up, blindly exploring the hills and valleys of her body. His eyes squeezed shut as adrenaline shot through his veins when he found her breast and it caused her hips to jolt up and grind against his manhood.

Unimaginable, extraordinary, amazing, incredible, mind-blowing, infinite. That's what the sensation of her body in his hands, just for him, with him, made him feel. Cuddy hooked the waistband of his boxers with her fingers and pulled them down and, in an instant he was lying, naked too, above her. Their mouths joined in a kiss, nibbling greedily at the pulp of each other's lips and an irrepressible sexual fervor started consuming them both. He lifted himself on his forearms and slid down between her legs until his face came at her chest's level. She arched up and her breasts, her perfect, round breasts taunted his mouth. He leaned down and kissed the tip of her breast, and as soon as he did, he instantly craved more of that heavenly, delicious sensation and took her erect nipple in his mouth, teasing it with his tongue. She dug her nails in his upper back and he straightened up, freeing himself from her and looked at her, in awe, inwardly marveling at her beauty. She was so alive, and so intoxicating under his caresses… He was feeling dizzy, and deliciously numbed by the powerful waves of desire she was eliciting in him. He peered at her a little while longer, imprinting every one of her curves in his mind. Her taut belly was undulating wondrously slowly and he placed one palm on it, almost covering it all with his large hand. It burnt his skin as he traced a long, winding line along her abdomen, stroking her from her hipbone to her breast again, amazed by how firm it felt under his touch and how it just perfectly filled his palm when he cradled it inside his hand. She groaned impatiently above him and compellingly grabbed his biceps to pull him upward towards her face again. He complied docilely and returned his attention to her lips. She kissed back, greedily, and on both sides of his hips he felt the smooth skin of her inner thighs rub yearningly against him. She was calling him, with the oldest and most universal body language that existed, and all he wanted to do in that moment was to give her exactly what she wanted.

With one skilled round sway of his hips, House positioned himself between her wet folds and finally claimed what was now his with a languorous, slow thrust. She already knew for sure that House the lover was undeniably going to be more apt than any of the men she'd ever known but within the unhurried shyness of that movement solely, he laid every one of his overwhelmed feelings bare for her. The extreme tenderness with which he delicately rocked his hips and pushed himself inside of her to penetrate her core, until his shaft hit that spot deep inside her, was what touched her the most. Her eyes widened in wonderment and her mouth fell agape at the deliciously stretching sensation, while she took the sides of his face in her hands, sliding her thumbs behind his ears and planting her eyes on his. When he felt he was buried deep inside of her, he moaned above her face and stared back at her with an intensity she'd never seen before in his gaze. He kissed her face, everywhere, on her temple, her eyelids, and her nose before returning to her lips to devour her tongue again.

Leisurely, deliberately settling on a slow pace, he began to rock his hips, back and forth, and each time his shaft was sliding back inside her tight, wet warmth again, the wave that was growing inside him became bigger, larger, and more unavoidable than the previous time. It didn't feel just amazingly good. It felt indescribably good; something way beyond words or any rational attempts at depicting the feeling.

Once, a long time ago, he'd had her and that one-time experience had scarred him for life. Nothing and no one after her ever felt quite as unique as she had. He'd tried to recreate the sensation, sometimes closing his eyes, to imagine it was her he was making love to, while he held other bodies inside his arms but it never felt the same. There was something about the way she moved, the way her sweat smelled, the way she arched the small of her back, the way she matched his rhythm, a perfect synchronicity of one desire meeting another desire and that was simply irreplaceable. Re-living that experience, after so many years, after having missed her, so many times, up to a point where it'd sometimes hurt him more than the wound in his thigh itself, hit him as powerfully as the force of an earthquake devastating everything behind it. He dove at her neck and bit the round shape of her shoulder, unable to contain the urge that was taking hold of his body to possess her, imprint her under his skin, and become one with her. It was raw, almost like the primal reaction of an animal obeying the laws of nature, and he squeezed his eyes shut, as a single tear, a sign of elation mixed with gratitude, rolled down his cheek.

Cuddy felt it burn her skin and she took his face inside her hands to bring it at her level. They stared at each other in silence, both overcome by too many emotions they'd tried to hold back for so long, and she smiled with utmost tenderness before stretching her neck to reach for his face and kissing his temple softly. She rubbed her cheek against his stubble and held him tighter as she whispered his name in his ear, the sound echoing in his head like a caress to his soul. His hips kept dancing and rocking, nestled between her hips and the feeling kept growing and growing bigger. Her inner thighs were pressing more demandingly against his sides now and she suddenly wound her legs around his waist, like a creeper winds round a trunk, her body arching up and undulating under him. He gasped, awestruck by the unreserved confidence with which she was leading their dance, and he sped up the rhythm, instantly noticing every change in the way she breathed, louder, the way she bucked her hips, faster, or the way her nails were no longer just stroking him but digging into his flesh, undeniably leaving marks that he knew he would cherish for as long as they'd remain on his skin, as an incredible proof of her intense desire for him.

He propped himself up on his palms, his large shoulders hovering over her petite frame and he looked down at their joined bodies, enthralled by the perfect symbiosis of their movements, the shock waves that were shaking their stomachs and the incredible energy that was emanating from it all. There, inside her arms, he was coming to life again. He knew his thigh would certainly ache afterward but, in that instant, he wasn't feeling any pain. Just the addictive, magical sensation of pleasure, irrepressibly building up, right before the moment when he knew it was going to explode inside them and overrun them both. Cuddy gasped loudly and threw her head back into the pillow, a squeak escaping from her lips, and he fell back on his elbows to take her face inside his hands. He wanted to pick out the sound of her coming on his lips and feel them vibrate within that sound. She closed her eyes and that unique, unmistakable vibe of orgasm took hold of her, while a raspy moan, coming from the depth of her throat started echoing into space. He leaned down and kissed her, just then, covering her mouth with his and he absorbed her pleasure through his lips. She clutched his shoulders and turned her face to the side to gasp for air, wriggling beneath him uncontrollably. He kept moving inside her a few more times, each one of his last shoves feeling like him surrendering to a higher force that he wasn't even trying to tame or fight. He didn't want to. He welcomed his own orgasm with a feeling of blissful completion, and collapsed on top of her, panting.

After a few seconds, careful not to squash her under his weight, House slowly slid out of her and rolled to his side, facing her. Cuddy did the same and they stared at each other, breathless, both curled up in a ball, their knees and faces touching. They remained silent for long minutes, simply looking each other in the eyes, words feeling completely superfluous between them in that moment. After a while though, he saw her shiver so he lifted her gently and they both slid under the warmth of his linen sheets, instantly finding their position again, face to face, and cuddled up against each other. House raised his hand slowly and caressed her hair. She sighed voluptuously and smiled.

"That was-" she started to say, but he covered her lips with his index finger.

"Shh," he told her, smiling too, "you're gonna break the spell."

She chuckled and looked at him, amused.

"There is no spell."

"I don't want to find out, anyway," he confessed. "Not now."

She enveloped him with a fond gaze and stroked his stubble tenderly. He covered her hand with his and slid it along the side of his face to his mouth, kissing the inside of her palm with the softest brush of his lips.

"I think I love you." He whispered against the hollow of her wrist, the sound of his confession muffled by her skin.

She arched her eyebrows, her eyes full of mischief and she freed her hand from his grasp.

"You think?" she teased.

"Yeah. But it's kind of an incurable thought, though," he answered with a serious tone.

"Incurable, eh?"

"Maybe there's a cure somewhere, but I don't want to be healed. I've signed a DNR," he said, smiling.

"As your medical proxy, I promise you I won't let anyone try to cure you against your will," she replied, giving him his smile back.

"Good."

She wriggled a little under the sheets and came closer to him. Her eyes locked with his, while she felt her way along his body and found his sex, taking it inside her hand, beautifully unashamed. House sucked in a sharp breath but pretended not to be affected even when her fingers slowly started to close around his length and rubbed it up and down with the firm intention of bringing it to life again. No matter how tired and old his body was, she was his fountain of youth and it was simply impossible to resist her. Even less when she leaned down to his face and started kissing him greedily, while her hand kept stroking him with growing impatience. His breathing sped up and he wrapped his arm around her, enclosing her in his embrace.

"Again," she sighed through his lips, her command the most exciting sound he could have wished for.

There was no need to answer anything. His desire for her was already very much reborn, hard and hot in her hand. He slid his hands on her ass and pressed her against him, trying to climb on top of her but she pushed him back, forcing him to lie down on his back, swiftly straddling him, and claiming his body for herself. He watched her conquer him, as she lifted herself on her knees just above him and positioned his cock between her folds. She guided him inside her, excruciatingly but deliciously slowly and gasped at the sensation of him penetrating her again. She remained still for a while, just relishing the incredible feeling of fullness and rested her hands on his chest. House splayed his large hands on her lower back and she began to move. Her spine arched in a sensual curve, pushing her breasts forward while her ass, God, her ass, round and firm under his hands, rubbed his groin, brushing his balls with each sway of her hips, in the most intoxicating way possible. She wasn't just pushing herself in and out of him but she was making those mind-blowing round movements with her belly and hips, almost as if dancing a sensual oriental dance and it sent him hurtling over the edge in no time. He gripped her hips and anchored himself to her, letting her do whatever it was she wanted to do with him. From where he was lying, under her, at her complete mercy, House was mesmerized by the way her body knew exactly how to take control of his. There had never been any doubt for him that she was the only woman he'd ever wanted that much in his whole life but seeing her, touching her, and being finally able to feel her was something his mind found hard to process even then.

"Cuddy," he moaned her name, short of breath.

In response, she rocked her hips harder and it squeezed a growl in his throat. He seized her by the wrists, making her lose her balance and she fell down on his chest.

"You feel so… real," he whispered, almost incredulous.

She pulled on her hands to free herself and he instantly released his grab. Straightening up, she sat on top of him again and resumed her hip sways, leaving him no respite.

"That's because I am real, House," she said, panting. "Me fucking you right now is real," she added with poise, staring intensely into his wide-open eyes.

That, and the merciless rhythm she had settled for their love dance, gave him enough proof that it was, indeed, not a dream. It boosted his self-confidence and, before she could anticipate his next move, he promptly gripped her by the hips and made her topple underneath him, immediately taking the lead again and pushing himself deep inside her with a strong shove.

"I think you got that wrong, baby," he said, smiling victoriously above her stunned face, "Looks like I'm the one fucking you."

And, sliding his hands under her ass, he lifted her up, finding a new angle that made the sensation of him penetrating her even more vivid than before. Cuddy gripped his biceps and gave in unreservedly, arching up and following his tempo. He buried his face between her breasts, gasping against her silky skin and he kept thrusting harder and faster until he felt her body writhe beneath him, begging for mercy. He removed his hands from her butt and put them on her shoulders to pin her down on the mattress and make the erratic jolts of her body stop. She stilled, and he looked at her heavily panting, her eyes burning with frustration as she could feel him gradually slow down. She grunted and wriggled her shoulders and he smiled at her, then picked up his pace again, relentlessly building another wave even stronger than the one that was about to crash them both merely seconds before. They came at the same time, powerfully, their synchronized ecstasy bursting out of them in completely incoherent cries.

They both found their breathing again, and House spooned her warm body along his, gently guiding her back against his chest and wrapping his arms possessively around her waist. They lay down in each other's arms, and they dozed off for a short while, feeling relaxed and sated.

House was the first to wake up, jolted out of his numbness by an unwelcomed feeling of fear. He jumped and opened his eyes then he saw her, curled up with her back against him, his arms still around her, her body taking on the exact shape of his body. Her hair had fallen in a cascade of raven curls on the pillow, uncovering the delicate line of her nape and he nuzzled her, right there, at the base of her neck, closing his eyes again and inhaling deeply to fill his nostrils with her scent. Delicately, he covered her with light kisses from her ear to her upper back and his hand, resting on the round shape of her shoulder, started caressing her skin softly. She moaned and stirred in his arms and he tightened his grasp around her waist to prevent her from turning around. He could feel her ass pressed against his groin and he instantly knew he was going to want more of her very soon. His hand on her belly slowly slid lower between her legs and she swayed her hips from left to right, grinding against him tantalizingly, feeling his growing erection pressing on the small of her back. She bent one of her legs higher, bringing her knee against her breasts and parting her thighs, like an invitation for him to touch her heat. He guided his hand to her sex, and opened her with his middle finger, finding her wet and warm. He rested his forehead between her shoulder blades and pushed his finger inside her, leisurely pumping in and out of her until she moaned lasciviously, this time unmistakably very much awake against him.

"Again?" he challenged her, smiling against the skin of her back.

She covered his hand with hers and squeezed her thighs shut, imprisoning them between her legs.

"Yes," she whispered, turning her head back to look at him over her shoulder.

He took her by the hips and positioned the small of her back just above his hipbone. Like that, her ass was resting on his lower abdomen and he put his palm on her upper thigh, guiding it up just enough to find a way between her folds to penetrate her from behind. She arched back and pushed herself against his shaft, as he pressed the tip of his erection at the entry of her core. Thrusting up, still lying on his side, with her body spooned along his, he slowly entered inside her again. He rocked his hips back and forth slowly, very slowly, pressing his palms on her belly to keep her close to him while Cuddy threw her arm behind her and gripped his ass to not lose the connection between their entwined bodies. It felt so quiet and passionate at the same time. In that position, even though he couldn't be inside her very deep, he could touch every part of her body with his, feel every inch of her skin against his; her back along his chest, her ass nestled against his lower belly, one of her thighs against his thighs, and his hands on her abdomen, her chest, and her neck, caressing her face, then slowly sliding down to cup her breasts… He was overwhelmed again, and again and he wished the feeling could never end. There, inside her, buried in her, he'd found the place where he wanted to be and stay forever, where everything felt good and there was no pain anymore.

He pushed his hips forward just a little, indicating to her with a light pressure on her back that he wanted her to lie down on her belly. She followed his silent lead and she rolled with him, until he was lying on top of her, his body sprawled along her, propped up on his elbows to shelter her beneath his large chest. She stretched her arms above her head and pushed her ass upward and, shifting his body weight on one forearm, he slid his hand under her belly, wrapping her in his arm and moving inside her again, slow, and steady. Each one of his thrusts was pining her down to the mattress but she instantly jolted her lower back up, to welcome him back into her within his next thrust. He was already losing it but when she suddenly propped herself on her elbows and pushed him backward forcefully, lifting herself up on her knees, a violent shot of adrenalin ran through his veins and dangerously sped up his heart. She was going to kill him, by overdose of pleasure but, if that's how it had to be, then he was ready to die, just there and then, the vision of her body arched up toward him, the best image to take away with him.

He straightened up too, gripped her hips and started to move again. The penetration, infinitely deeper in that position, made him instantly crazy. Or maybe it was her, under him, and the way she was bouncing her hips up every time he was pushing forward. If there was a God, which he never really believed in, the only tangible proof of his existence he was ever ready to accept was surely there, in that very instant, where his body and hers were just melting together, until another orgasm shook them both and made them collapse onto the bed, completely spent.

They were both lying on their backs, their blurry gazes fixated upon a random spot on the ceiling, their limbs feeling like jelly, as they were completely unable to move a single muscle. The sound of their puffing breaths was the only proof that they were still very much awake.

"More?" House asked, panting, without even looking at her, but only feeling her sweaty body along his.

Cuddy tilted her head to the side to look at him, the only part of her body that she was still able to move. She smiled an adorably groggy smile that betrayed how completely sex-sated she felt.

"Really? Oh God!" she said, closing her eyes, as if she was trying to locate some remaining strength deep within her. "I don't think I… it's just that… I mean… I'm exhausted," she finally confessed.

"You are?" House said, his tone indicating he was looking for confirmation.

"Yes," she blew, opening her eyes again and looking at him with guilty eyes.

House rolled his eyes skyward and sighed, a heavy sigh of relief.

"Jesus!" he exclaimed, chuckling. "I thought you'd never say that!"

She laughed too and smacked him on the arm.

"Hey, I don't think I heard you complain that much," she fake-protested.

"Good God, woman, you're insatiable!"

"I have resources," she said, with mischievous eyes, "and a great source of inspiration…"

He stared at her, in awe, and gently grabbed her shoulder to pull her into him. She slid under the sheet to position herself inside his arms, unable to suppress a little moan because of the soreness she felt in her muscles when she moved.

"Are you ok?" he asked, concerned, as she laid her head atop his chest and wrapped her arm around his waist

"Yeah," she purred, cuddling comfortably against him.

"You sure you don't need anything? Drink? Something to eat maybe?"

"No, I'm good. I have everything I need. Right here," she whispered, with a sleepy voice, rubbing her nose through his chest hair.

She snuggled up closer inside his arms and he tightened his embrace around her, feeling her naked warmth along his body. He turned his head to the side, cautiously, and planted a soft kiss in her hair. She heaved a long sigh of bliss and within a beat, they both passed out, drowned in lust.

* THE END *

A/N

So that's it! I know some of you wanted me to develop that story past those first four chapters, but as much as I'd love to (even though, like a fellow writer here, I'm a sucker for the kind of stories where they're getting together for the first time – wink, wink RR!) I think I like where it ends…

If you want to read more of them "trying the relationship thing" then, let me shamelessly point you to another one of my stories: "If You Let Me, I Might Try".

I know some of you already know it, but for those who haven't read it and liked that one - but somehow wanted more - then I think giving IYLM a try is a good compromise.

Anyway, thank you SO MUCH again for reading.

Enjoy life, be happy ~ maya