Caution-Explicit Sexual Content-

We sat up and he grabbed my hand in his and gently pulled me up. We went slowly back to his bedroom smiling at each other. When we got back in the bedroom he turned on the bedside light. I took off my shoes and climbed up on the bed, curled up by the pillow and watched him take off his shoes and pull off his polo shirt. The hair on his chest was curly and gray although a few of the strands were brown. He stood up and undid his belt and unzipped his pants. His trousers fell to the floor and he stood in his boxers. I got up on my knees and turned my back for him to unzip me. He unzipped my dress and then pulled the pins out of my hair, letting it fall. I pulled down the dress and threw it on the floor next to his trousers. He looked at my half-naked body. I felt a little shy and exposed, something I hadn't felt in my life. He pulled the covers back for me to climb under. I pulled off my panties first and climbed in. He crawled under too and I could immediately feel his warmth.

I drew in a breath and could smell Greg's body odor. It was familiar and pleasant. I could have smelled him all night and day. He put his arm under his head on the pillow and looked at me. His face turned gentle and he ran his hand down my shoulder and over my breast. He took his thumb and rubbed my nipple. He looked under the covers and stroked the inner part of my thigh. His touch felt soft and velvety. I was worried that I wasn't doing things right so I reached down and softly stroked him too. His breathing picked up, closed his eyes for a minute as I played with him. The he pulled my hand away and picked up the covers.

I was a little surprised when I saw his head disappear under the covers. He gently pulled my legs apart and spread my fold even further with his fingers. I felt his warm, wet tongue touch me as softly as a feather at first and then more firmly. It felt almost like a tickle at first and then his tongue went flat, licking up over and over. My breath quickened as I felt myself get wet and warm. Then he concentrated on the one area that was the most sensitive. He licked and sucked me with a rhythm that made me push my body into his tongue. This went on for a few minutes until I felt his finger dart in and out of me while his tongue continued its steady rhythm.

I wasn't myself, I was quickly losing control over my body. The tingling started deep in my pelvic area close to where his tongue was licking. He started to suck and I screamed. I didn't mean to, but it was too much. I couldn't concentrate on anything but the feelings that were exploding over and over. My muscles contracted so hard I could feel nothing else. It was the most glorious feeling I had ever had and as it started to disappear, Greg raised up, grabbed a rubber and put it on.

"I'm going to enter you, okay?"

My breathing was still fast. I nodded, "Yes, I'm ready."

He entered slowly and gently. He made no sharp moves. It was so tight that he sometimes grunted when he pushed into me. It was uncomfortable, but it wasn't painful like before. I didn't really care after the wonderful sensations I had just experienced. When he was finishing, with three short thrusts, I kissed him on my own. My tongue was the intruder and he moaned lightly into my mouth as it came to an end.

I understood now. I knew why sex was so popular. I wanted more. Not just then, but I knew I was going to want more later. He was breathing hard as he laid there on his back. I put a hand on his chest and watched it rise and fall as he gained control over his breathing.

He turned to me, "Are you okay?"

"I owe you an apology. That was the most glorious feeling in the world. I can't thank you enough."

He was clearly happy and satisfied. He smiled broadly and pulled me up to his chest. I put my head on it and could smell his sweat and hear his heart beat. I ran my hand down his abdomen and along the patch of hair that ran from his navel to his genitals. It was so sensual. I wanted to stroke the patch of hair over and over. He giggled.

"It tickles. Touching right after sex can tickle."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, I won't mind it in a few minutes. I just want to lay here and make sure you don't get yanked back to your time zone. You better stay close."

"You're teasing me, but someday you'll be sorry."

He chuckled and reached over to grab a glass of water. "Want some?"

I nodded and took a drink. He did too. He moved down further under the covers so that his head was on the pillow next to my head. He turned on his side and grabbed me around my waist. I turned over with my back to him and we laid together, falling asleep like that.

He woke up to go to work and kissed my neck. "I have time for another round. Are you up for it?"

"Yes, please."

He was genuinely pleased. I was very happy. It felt as good as the first time although maybe not as romantic. I watched him get up and take a shower. "Want to join me?" he yelled from the shower. I slipped into the shower behind him and we played with each other, splashing water, soaping each other and kissing. We spent far too much time in the water, but we laughed the whole time.

He offered me a ride home, but I knew he was late. "I'll get a bus."

He got out his wallet, "Take a cab so that I know you'll get home safe, okay?"

I nodded.

"And here, keep this." He handed me my old key to the apartment.

"What is this for?"

"You use it to unlock the front door."

I snickered, "Very funny. I don't live here anymore, why are you giving me a key?"

He shrugged, "I want you to be able to make yourself at home."

I was about to say something, give it back. But I could see he really wanted me to have it and if it would make him happy, I thought it was the least I could do. I kissed him and sent him on his way. I took a cab home, washed my uniform and made my way into work. I was almost late, causing both Joey and Cassie to wonder what had happen to me.

"I went to dinner with the doctor."

Cassie was pleased, feeling as if she had been a catalyst, "I knew he couldn't resist that dress and body."

Joey agreed, "He'd be an idiot if he did. So are you two back together?"

"I'm not sure. I stayed the night with him and he gave me a key to his apartment."

Cassie and Joey nodded to each other.

"He also offered me a job as a lab assistant. It comes with health benefits and a substantial pay raise. I'm sorry Joey, but I said yes."Joey was clearly upset and I felt guilty. I couldn't take it. He had been so good to me. "Forget it Joey, I won't take the job."

"Are you kidding? You have to. I'll miss you, but health benefits and a pay raise? You can't turn that down. Hey, just promise you'll come down and see us."

I still felt horrible. I went over and hugged him. He hugged me back. I couldn't believe that I had started voluntarily hugging men. My life had taken a 180° turn and I was a man-friend. One of those stupid women who believe that men actually have something to offer the universe.

I worked the full day and was surprised when Cassie called me over to the cashier's desk. I had a phone call. I was very tentative. I'd only used a phone a few times and I was still unsure of how to use it properly. I wish they had communicators. You just hit the chip in your arm and you could communicate using your own mind to dial.

"Hello?" I said, making sure I had the earpiece to my head and the speaking part by my mouth.

"What are you wearing?" he asked.

"That's an odd question to ask." I said to him.

He chuckled, "I knew you wouldn't get it. I don't know why I even said it."

"Greg, I have to get back to my customers, what did you need?"

"I wanted you to come over tonight. I'll pick you up."

"I don't get off until late and by then, I'm really tired. I don't think so."

There was silence. "Okay, what about tomorrow night?"

I was amused, he was very persistent. "I'll come over on Friday night. I work the day shift then. Did Cuddy say yes?"

"Yeah, but your salary and the research has to come out of my department's budget. So I can't afford to pay you a lot. You'll get $17.67 an hour."

"Well, we can talk about it on Friday." I suggested.

"Okay. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Bye."

"Bye."

I looked at the phone and wondered why he needed to call me the next day if we were going to see each other on Friday. I didn't understand the people in this time frame. I went back to work.

That night a tall man in sunglasses and a ball cap walked in and took a table over in Mary's stations. At first I didn't think anything of it, but he kept staring at me over the newspaper.

"Greg?" I yelled across the restaurant. He pulled his newspaper up over his eyes. I looked at Mary, who was shrugging her shoulders. I went over and grabbed the paper out of his hands. He looked around and then up into my eyes. "Take those stupid things off."

He took off the sunglasses and, without smiling, put them on the table. Mary came over. "Is this guy stalking you Marie?"

"Stalking? No he's just following me everywhere." I said.

Mary looked at me strangely. "Do you want Joey to kick him out?"

"No, he has enough money to pay for a meal. He's the doctor I slept with last night."

I could see she was shocked, "Uh, okay. I think I'll just leave you two alone. She went to get food for one of her tables.

"What are you doing?" I sat down across from him.

He looked around again rather sheepishly, "I have to eat. I might as well eat here."

"But it's five miles from your apartment."

"I was in the neighborhood. Aren't you happy to see me?"

I thought about it and I wasn't. I felt like he was checking up on me, as if I couldn't be trusted. "No, I'm not. I feel like you don't trust me and are sneaking around trying to catch me doing something."

His shoulders collapsed and his face fell, "I ...I just wanted to see you tonight. I was curious. I wondered if you were a good waitress."

I looked around, "Well I won't be if I don't get back to it. You timed it just right, I get off in fifteen minutes. You might as well have your dinner and then you can wait with me at the bus stop."

"I'll take you home."

"Waitress!" a customer signaled for the check.

I raised my hand to acknowledge them and ran off to get it. I looked back and saw him order his meal from Mary. Mary was a cute, young student with big dreams. Joey called us his M&Ms when we were working. As I finished up, I grabbed my cardigan and purse, walked to the front, watched as he left enough money to pay for the meal and give Mary an excessively large tip. We walked outside, the air was close and smelled like ions from a maxator. It smelled like rain coming.

He walked next to me, saying nothing. The sides of our bodies occasionally brushed up against each other and I got the distinct feeling that the touching wasn't an accident. He kept swinging his arm behind me cautiously until he finally reached up and put his hand on the opposite shoulder. I stopped and turned slightly to look at him and the arm that was now draped around the back of my shoulder. He pulled it off quickly.

"Greg, are you touching me as a prelude to sex?" I wasn't angry, just curious. I had seen people with their arms around each other and wondered what it meant to them.

"Not necessarily," he said defensively.

"Then why did you touch me?"

He scratched his head. "People, couples, frequently touch just to be close to each other." He nodded towards the parking lot. "Let me drive you home. We can talk on the way."

"I haven't told you where I live because I'm afraid you'll do what you did tonight, show up all the time, even if I say no."

His lips pinched together and he moved them around like he was embarrassed. "I worry about you. I don't know if it's the schizophrenia or what, but you seem naive, like you've been sleeping in a cave most of your life. I keep thinking of the Kirby Deluxe 6000 and the pimp who tried to hustle you."

"I don't have schizophrenia. We've cured it in my time zone. I'm starting to understand your society. I've learned the bus system, the social security system, the tax system– which is archaic – and I'm learning about sex. The only thing that still baffles me is the relationship between men and women, what you refer to as love. What is love and what function does it perform?"

House grimaced, "You're asking me to explain emotions and I have a hard time explaining it to myself. You know, asking me about love is like asking George Bush to give you a cogent answer. You're asking the wrong person."

I exhaled in frustration, "Have you ever been in love?"

He winced and ducked like he knew what was coming, "Yes."

"Then explain it to me. How did you know that you loved her? I assume it was a woman – right?"

He was very defensive, "Yes, it was a woman! I knew I loved her when I didn't want her to go home. I wanted her to stay with me. I didn't want to be with other women. I was happy when I saw her. I looked forward to her coming through the door. I don't know. It's different for everyone."

I looked at the wrinkles around his eyes and touched his elbow, "Is it true you only love one person in your life?"

He shook his head, "No. I've been in love a few times, but the last time was probably the one that hit me the hardest when it was over."

"Over? I thought love was suppose to last forever?"

He looked down and away, "So did I."

I felt sorry for him. He must still love the woman. "You still love her, don't you?"

He squirmed a little, "Yes, but it's over. She's married.."

"To someone else?" I was surprised. "Didn't she love you?"

He looked annoyed, "It's complicated."

"I know Calculus, regale me."

"Can we go to your place? Or mine? It's dark and it's late. It might be wise if we didn't advertise ourselves as marks."

"Okay, we can go to your place again. I don't have to work until noon."

We got into his car and he tried to talk to me about the new job at the hospital. "Oh no. You aren't going to distract me that easy. I'm not a man. Did she love you?"

"She loved me, but after my leg problems, we'd fight and then we'd ignore each other. It got to the point that the only thing left in the relationship was love and pain. Loving someone doesn't mean you can live with them or make them happy."

"This is complicated." I was quiet, trying to think, "I watch movies and people seem so miserable when they're in love."

"It's a complicated emotion. It can make you the happiest you've ever been and the most miserable you'll ever be."

"I think I like my world. We all care for each other deeply, but there is no love between the sexes. It makes life easier to deal with."

His mouth turned down and his eyes looked sad, "I think I'd like your world too."

"No, you'd hate it. Women would tell you what to do all day and punish you if you didn't obey."

"So what's new?"

I giggled. "You'd be put in a colony. With your leg, you'd probably be given an office job like bookkeeping or filing."

"Yeah, I'd hate it."

We arrived at his apartment. When we got inside I sat down on the sofa and he brought me some orange juice.

"Greg, do you want to be in love again?"

He threw his head back onto the back of the sofa and rolled his eyes. "Can we talk about something else?"

"I came here to get answers. If you don't want to give me answers, give me money for a taxi and I'll leave." I wasn't going to let him get away with ducking the question.

"I don't know. That's the honest truth. I don't think I could handle the pain again of her leaving."

"Do women always leave the relationship?"

"Mine do."

I laughed, he looked so forlorn. "Oh, don't pout. Maybe next time you'll leave."

"I doubt it. When I fall in love I tend to stay to the bitter, and I do mean bitter, end."

I couldn't imagine why someone would leave him. He was difficult, but I lived in a society of women and frankly, they can be difficult. Compared to them, he was just a child who needed his hand slapped every once in awhile. He could carry on an intelligent conversation, knew a lot about a lot of things, played music, and could make me laugh. It sounds silly, but making me laugh was important to me. He probably didn't think I was funny because I was having such a hard time understanding what was considered funny in 2007. But in my time zone I was considered a real comedian. I made all of my friends laugh.

I patted his hand, "You know, if I planned on staying, I'd fall in love with you and never leave you."

He chuckled, "You moron. It's not that easy. You don't just say it and it happens. You either grow to love a person or you're gobsmacked ...you love them at first or, almost first, sight."

I was a little miffed. I had just tried to compliment him and he made me feel like I was a child. "Well what's so hard? When I stayed here with you, I looked forward to you coming home, I didn't want you to leave, I was happiest when you were around. Isn't that love?"

He scrunched his forehead and mouth up, like he was in pain. "I don't know. Only you know when you're in love with someone. It sounds to me like you were just lonely."

I figured he must be right, "Oh. I see. Then you're right, I don't know what love is. I guess, if I'm lucky and I get to go home soon, I never will. I'm really tired, can I take a shower and we go to bed?"

"Sure."

His answer was a little too enthusiastic. I think he was grateful that he didn't have to talk about love anymore. He got into bed while I took a shower. When I came back to bed he had an erection.

"Are we having sex again?"

He nodded.

"How often do you have sex?" I asked.

"Not often enough."

I gave him a look of reprimand.

"You can have it several times in one night as long as the guy can get it up." He saw my confusion, "As long as he can get an erection. Most couples have sex ..."He stopped and looked at my naked body, "...six or seven times a week." I saw a slight upturn of his lip which indicated to me that he was lying, but it didn't matter. I had seen in the porn movies that they did it more than six or seven times a week. But, I thought six or seven times a week was a reasonable quantity.

We had sex and this time I had an orgasm, but Greg didn't use his tongue, just his fingers and I had it while he was inside of me which must have been intense because Greg yelled out like he was in terrible pain.

I got up and watched him flush the rubber again. I looked at it and realized it contained millions of humans in it that were just being flushed away. I wanted to grab it and try to take it home with me. But he told me later that there was a spermicide laced into the condom and most of the sperm were probably dead. We highly prize sperm in my time zone. Sperm are more precious to us than any gemstone or mineral. Watching them just float away made me very sad. I wondered what it would be like if the governors could fertilize one of my ova with one of his sperm. I thought of the genetics. The baby would be very smart, perhaps 5'10"-5'11", blue eyes, brown hair as adult, long fingers, and longer features than I had. The clones would be intelligent too. That made me even sadder, to know that those babies would never exist to save my world.

I'm not sure how it happened, but over the next four nights I only spent one night at my apartment, alone. He always had something to show me or for us to do. We always ended up in his bed. We even went to bed one night and didn't have sex. I was beginning to think that he wanted me to live with him again. I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to be his personal maid or give him the impression that I was his property.

Monday came. I was excited about starting my new job at PPTH. I spent the first couple of hours watching a training film on safety and patient privacy and filling out forms with Greg's help. The forms asked for my previous employers and since I had only worked one place, TOP, it was easy. But when I put down the address, Stratos 7, Avenida Cielo, Philadelphia, Commerical Level 2, he shook his head.

"Just put that they've gone out of business. They're not going to understand why they can't find your employer to get a reference...not that it matters, I'm the one doing the hiring."

Listing my education was even more difficult. Greg said I couldn't put most of it down or they would contact the institutions and ask for confirmation of the information. Although I knew he was "playing along with me" he said, "How can they confirm something that hasn't happened yet?"

He had a point. I ended up just putting down a lie, that I had gone to high school at Morse High in San Diego, CA. He said that he had gone to that high school and knew that it existed, but that they wouldn't be able to confirm my attendance because in 1988 there had been a fire at Morse and their records had burned up. It was before computers and the internet stored everything in cyberspace. The human resource clerk gave me papers to read later which welcomed me to PPTH.

Greg took me to his office and gave me some instructions. "You're low man on the totem-pole..." He saw that I wasn't following. "You're the last to be hired so you have no seniority. That means that you have some chores the others don't. You'll be responsible for making and getting me my coffee and doing other tasks just for me. And when you refer to me at work, you must call me Master."

"Master?"

"It's because you're new. When I hire someone else, then they'll have to do these things and then you can just call me House or Greg or Dr. House."

I shrugged my shoulders. We had to call Mater – Mater, Governor – Governor, it wasn't that strange.

He took me down the hall and up the elevator to the next floor. We entered into a laboratory, the one he had taken me to show me the rat slides. "This will be where you do most of your work and that will be your desk and computer. I'll give you a password to get into it. When you do work in here, you're required to wear a face shield for protection or the Mater will have your head on a platter."

I nodded and looked around. The lab didn't have half the equipment I needed for my research and of the equipment it did have, I didn't know how to operate most of it.

"Greg, I don't know how to operate most of this equipment."

"Remember, call me Master. I'll have one of the team come down and show you. Why don't you spend the rest of the day familiarizing yourself with the computer and designing the data base you want to use for our research?"

I was sure that it would take me all day to figure out how to use the computer so this wasn't a bad idea. "Okay, can you show me how to turn it on?"

He walked over and pushed a button. Within a minute a sign that said Windows showed on the screen. It asked for a password. He typed in "Hydrocodone" and the next screen came up. He spent the next few minutes showing me the various programs and what they could do. He left and I began to familiarize myself with the computer. He called on the phone around 11:30 am and told me to come downstairs, he needed coffee.

"Yes, Master." I went down and met the rest of the team as they huddled around the white board that he was writing on. I made a pot of coffee, poured a cup, but in cream and two sugars, then handed it to him. The doctors all stared at me like I was an alien (I guess I was!)

"Anything else Master?"

He shook his head and as I was going to leave he changed his mind, "Sit down Marie. Let me introduce you to my team. This is Pete, Marcus and Winnie. This is Marie, the new lab assistant that is going to be working on my new research project. So you may be sharing the lab with her from time to time."

They all welcomed me to the department and I got up to leave.

"Marie, sit down." Greg barked at me.

I sat down. He started twirling his cane as he continued to stare at the board. Pete spoke up, "It might be Lupus. That would explain the sore joints and chest pain."

Greg dismissed him, "It's never Lupus."

The symptoms on the white board said, "Chest pain, back pain, liver lesion, bone lesion, sore joints and slightly abnormal liver function test."

Winnie was the next to venture a guess, "It's got to be cancer, bone or liver cancer that has spread."

House turned and shook his head, "They did a complete search of his abdomen for cancer – nothing."

"Master, may I go? I'd like to continue setting up the data base."

He looked very annoyed and disappointed with me, "I thought you wanted to be a doctor? But, if you'd rather be a lab rat, you can go."

I was a little upset that he had embarrassed me in front of these people. He knew I was a doctor. Or, he knew that I believed I was a doctor. I couldn't help it, I turned and said, "Check his PTH levels." Then I left the office to return to my computer programs.

I could see that Greg's eyes were narrowed and his brow furred as he watched me walk down the hall. I smiled and waved at him.