What could have been Chapter 25, a big bang theory fanfic

So, I finally managed to finish this one. It's Chapter 25, a milestone for me.

First of all, a warning: This chapter is looooooong. After writing and writing, it ended up with more than 33000 words, so I hope you can make it without falling asleep while reading it ^^

It also contains more sexy times than the others, you have been warned.

Please take your time reviewing this one, since I put a lot of effort into it :) If you don't, I will take a very long break and have those two split up *insert evil laugh here* ;)

Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of the franchise. I write here only for my own pleasure and that of others who read the story and I don't make any money. Any similarities to song titles or lyrics are absolutely coincidental and unintended. Some dialog is verbatim from different episodes and are there to keep the story going.

Disclaimer 2: Again, a big thank you to TerribleWaitress for letting me use her characters Meryl, Bridget and Scott that she created. You're the greatest :) But the other relatives are my idea ^^

"I'm sorry Miss, your credit card was rejected." the pudgy woman in the mechanics office told her.

"Can you try it again?" Penny asked hopefully.

"I tried it three times already, it was rejected every time."

"Okay, then let me run to the bank real quick." Penny said with a sigh and took her overcharged credit card back.

She walked the half mile to the bank and wrote her information on the piece of paper before handing it to the bank teller. The woman counted the money and handed it out to her. Penny felt nervous carrying twelve hundred dollars in cash with her. Another pang of regret was the fact that she now had no money to pay her bills for the month, the rent that had been due for a few days now impossible to pay.

She had deliberately waited with paying her bills to wait for the car repair to finish. Now she had to find a way to placate her land lord until she can find a way to get Kurt to pay her back without her having to go to him. These thoughts continued when she entered the repair shop office again and paid her bill.

"Thank you for your business. Have a nice day." the office secretary said, making Penny wonder if that was supposed to be genuine or sarcastic.

After driving the way back to her apartment block, she parked the car and entered the building. When she passed the first floor, she saw the door to 1A open and the back of her land lord showing the apartment to some potential renters. Not wanting to be caught, she quickly and quietly tiptoed across the landing and up the stairs to the next floor before starting to run. When she rounded the last corner to her own floor, she saw Sheldon opening toward his door, sucking on a red vine and holding his mail.

"Ooh, ooh, shut the door, shut the door." she implored and ran past him into his apartment.

"Why?" he asked, not unreasonably.

"Just do it!" she ordered and Sheldon did as he was told only for her to find herself alone in the apartment, Sheldon having shut the door while still outside. "Get inside and shut the door." she told him after opening the door again.

"Well, you didn't specify." he complained and entered, allowing her to shut the door again.

"Is Leonard around?" she asked, wanting to see him.

"He went to the movies without me. It was the only option." Sheldon replied and Penny remembered that he told her they would do this. She put her ear to the door and listened for the signs of someone coming up the stairs, fearing to face her land lord. "I'm sorry, I don't understand which social situation this is. Could you give me some guidance as to how to proceed?" Sheldon asked her.

"The building manager's showing an apartment downstairs, and I haven't paid my rent." she answered him.

"Oh, I see. Penny, I'm not sure I'm comfortable harboring a fugitive from the 2311 North Los Robles Corporation."

"It's no big deal. I'm just a little behind on my bills because my car broke down." she explained.

"If you recall, I pointed out the check engine light to you several months ago."

"Well the check engine light is fine. It's still blinking away. It's the stupid engine that stopped working. It cost me like twelve hundred dollars to fix it." she said and sighed.

"You know, it occurs to me you could solve all your problems by obtaining more money." Sheldon stated, making her look at him incredulous.

'Well, duh.' "Yes, it occurs to me, too." she said deadpan.

"Hang on a moment." He moved to a shelf and took a round box, startling her by tearing off the lid and releasing some plastic snakes before grabbing inside it, producing a rather large amount of cash. "Here. Take some. Pay me back when you can." he said and held the money to her.

"Wow, you got a lot of money in there." she exclaimed in shock.

"That's why it's guarded by snakes. Take some."

"No, I can't."

"Don't you need money?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"This is money I'm not using."

"But what if you need it?" she asked him, still not sure if she could just take a large amount of money.

"My expenses account for 46.9% of my after-tax income. The rest is divvied up between a small savings account, this deceptive container of peanut brittle and the hollowed-out buttocks of a superhero action figure who shall remain nameless for his own protection. Or her own protection. Take some." he finished his long speech, making Penny wonder exactly how much he was making at the university and if Leonard made the same amount.

"Really? I mean, are you sure?" she asked, hesitant to accept his offer.

"I see no large upcoming expenditures unless they develop an affordable technology to fuse my skeleton with adamantium like Wolverine."

"Are they working on that?" she asked, glad to have watched that X-Men movie the other night, making her able to understand the reverence.

"I sincerely hope so." came the reply.

"Okay. Well, thank you." she said and grabbed several bills before thinking about what that would mean. "Oh, God, no, I can't. Sheldon honey, I don't want things to be weird between us."

"Won't it also be weird if I have to say hello to you every morning on my way to work and you're living in a refrigerator box and washing your hair with rain water?" he asked, basically making the decision for her.

"I'll pay you back as soon as I can." she said after taking the money she had picked out earlier again.

"Of course you will. It's impossible to pay me back sooner than you can. Assuming you subscribe to a linear understanding of time and causality." he explained, and again she didn't really understand what he tried to say.

"I'm regretting this already." she sighed and headed back to her apartment.

Looking at the time, she sighed and flopped down on the couch. She tried to turn on the TV but it didn't work. Frowning, she got up to turn on the lights to find them not working as well. Slightly panicked, she went to the kitchen and opened the tab to find it only sputtering a few drops that were left in the pipes.

"Dammit." she cursed, realizing that the Department of Water and Power had made good on their threat and shut off her water and power until she paid her bills. With another curse, she went into her bedroom and grabbed her gym bag. Although she had no inkling of doing any sports right now, she might as well go there to take a shower.

Tomorrow she would use the money she took from Sheldon to pay her rent. But she realized that she should have taken more to also pay her energy bill.

After getting up the next day, she brushed her teeth again with bottled water and put on her robe. She went into Leonard's apartment, finding it empty since they were both at work, and made herself some coffee and took a shower, careful to hang up the towels in the right way. Feeling refreshed, she headed back to her place to put on her Cheesecake Factory uniform before getting down the stairs and into her repaired car.

After a brief stop at the bank to transfer the money she got from Sheldon to her land lord, she drove to work. Today would be a double shift day, since she had to work extra to get the free days Leonard had asked her for, while she still didn't know what exactly he had planned. She knew that he probably wanted to take her to her parent's but she couldn't accept a plane ticket from him.

"Hey Penny, how are you?" Kim's voice startled her as she stood in the employee's lounge, deep in thought.

"Hey Kim. To be honest, I have been better." Penny replied.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"Got my car fixed yesterday and it used up all the money I had left. Now I don't have power or water at home because the power company cut me off and I had to borrow from my boyfriend's roommate to pay the rent."

"Why didn't you ask Leonard?"

"I can't always ask him. It's embarrassing enough that I can't pay my bills or can't seem to go anywhere with my acting career but I don't want him to know that I can't handle money."

"Considering how often you bought stuff that he got to take off you, I think he knows that." Kim smiled.

"Maybe. But he doesn't know that I'm flat broke because I was stupid enough to let my ex-boyfriend persuade me to pay his fine so he wouldn't have to spend time in prison even though he deserves it and that my car was more expensive to repair than I thought."

"Why haven't you told him?"

"What could I say to him? If I learned that he gave an obscene amount of money to an ex-girlfriend of his, I would be furious."

"But won't it be even worse if he finds out on his own and realizes that you did it?"

"Didn't we have the same talk during our girls night at my place." Penny asked with a smile.

"Yeah but the question is still valid."

"Yeah, I should probably tell him, I just have to find a way to ease into it. Maybe after dinner. But come on, we have work to do." Penny said and led Kim out of the lounge to start her long shift.

After walking her feet sore, her shift finally ended. She sat in the employee's lounge for ten minutes, her feet on a chair opposite her to sooth them before making her way to her car to drive home. Maybe she should get a bike to get to work. It might be difficult to ride with with her uniform on but at least it would save gas.

After parking, she walked into the building to find her boyfriend and his roommate standing at the mailboxes and talking.

"Hey, Penny. How was work?" Leonard greeted her.

"Great. I hope I'm a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory for my whole life." she replied sarcastically.

"Was that sarcasm?" Sheldon asked, not understanding it as usual.

"No." she answered, again sarcastically.

"Was that sarcasm?" Sheldon asked again, this time directed at Leonard.

"Yes." Penny said exasperated and Leonard had to stop Sheldon from popping the same question again as she walked towards the stairs.

"Penny, you appear to have a package here." Sheldon stopped her, holding the package she saw lying on the table below the mailboxes.

"Oh, thanks. This must be the beret I ordered." she said excitedly before remembering that she didn't really have the money to order something like this, especially after borrowing money from Sheldon. "A couple of months ago. It was back-ordered." she tried to justify herself. She wasn't lying when she told them that she ordered it a while ago, only that it had been two weeks, well into her financial shortage, instead of a few months.

"Did you know the beret is an example of piece of women's fashion adapted from male military uniforms?" Sheldon asked her. "Another fascinating example is the epaulet."

"He's not lying, he does find that fascinating." Leonard threw in.

"Okay, whatever. It's not like I'm running up and down the streets just buying myself berets. I bought one, like, a month ago, and it was back-ordered, look, it finally arrived, all right?" Penny rambled, wondering why she was so riled up when Sheldon didn't even do anything.

"All right." he conceded and somehow that made her even more angry.

"Oh, my God, would you just get off my case?" she shouted and ran up the stairs, not stopping until she was in her apartment.

She got naked and stepped into the tub. Just as she was about to open the tab, she remembered that she had currently no running water and cursed loudly. Without bothering to put a towel around her, she walked into the kitchen and grabbed another water bottle, taking it with her into the bathroom where she proceeded to wash herself with a wet loofah, hoping to feel a little cleaner after eight hours of waiting tables.

After she was done, she went back into her bedroom and dressed in a fresh pair of white panties and a plain white bra before putting on her jeans and a blue tank top. She returned to the living room and saw a message from Leonard on her phone.

Howard and Raj arrived with the food

She didn't waste anytime and headed outside again, entering the other apartment without knocking. She saw Raj and Howard on the couch and Leonard standing next to the table, busy with sorting out the food while Sheldon was nowhere to be seen. She quickly went into Leonard's armchair and exchanged a smile with him as she wiggled her ass into the seat as if to mark her territory.

"Here you go." Leonard said to Howard and handed him one of the containers. "Oh, you owe me another two dollars. The price of mu-shu pork went up."

"It's getting tougher and tougher to be a bad Jew." the engineer replied and threw two one-dollar bills on the table.

"Here you go, Penny. Shrimp with lobster sauce." Leonard stated, handing her another container.

"Thank you, Leonard. What's my share?" she asked him.

"Don't worry about it. It's my treat." he replied to her, and she knew that he was aware of her financial situation after they had discussed it for a while a few days ago. But right now, his attitude made her more angry than grateful because it felt like he was rubbing her nose into her situation.

"No, really, how much?" she tried again.

"It's, whatever. Ten, eleven dollars." he said.

"Well, which is it, ten or eleven?"

"Fourteen fifty, but it's no biggie, you'll get the next one." he told her again and waved his hand. She saw Raj whisper something into Howard's ear and the engineer laughed.

"What?" she asked them

"He was just wondering if he wore skintight jeans and a tank top if he'd get his shrimp lo mein for free." Howard said.

"If you wore skintight jeans and a tank top, you would get to pay for the cleaning of the carpet because I'd throw up on it." Leonard directed at Raj, making Penny smile at least a bit before her bad mood took over again.

"What are you saying? That I'm using my body to get dinner? That I'm some kind of Chinese food prostitute?" she yelled at Raj.

"Yeah, Raj, what are you saying?" Howard piled on the poor Indian who was unable to talk because of his mental problem.

"Cause let me tell you something, buddy, I pay my own way in this world, okay? I don't rely on anybody!" she shouted and instead of saying something he couldn't get out anyway, Raj got a panicked look on his face and got up before running to the bathroom."What was that about?"

"He has a nervous bladder when he's stressed out. Kind of like a puppy." Howard explained.

"Here, Leonard, ten, eleven, twelve, uh, fourteen dollars." Penny said, giving Leonard her last money that she coincidentally had in her pants pocket.

"Oh, good. Dinner's here." Sheldon said upon coming into the living room.

"Yes, dinner's here, and I'm having some. I'm having takeout food." Penny explained her presence.

"Okay." the lanky physicist simply stated.

"You're damn right it's okay. I've been having leftovers at the restaurant for like four days, and I wanted something different. So sue me." Penny said exasperated, while in the back of her mind she wondered why she was so defensive.

"Forgive me, Penny, but that would be the very definition of a frivolous lawsuit." Sheldon said, not understanding her sarcasm again.

"Sheldon, look, I will pay you back as soon as I can. You just have to give me more time." she pleaded.

"Oh, wait, you lent her money?" Leonard asked surprised and Penny shut her eyes in embarrassment. She really didn't want him to find out.

"She needed money." Sheldon explained to Leonard before turning to her. "You seem under pressure. Did I not lend you a sufficient amount? Because I can give you more."

"Oh, you know, you would just love that, wouldn't you? Yeah. You would just love to open up your little snake can and throw some money at the girl who can't pay her bills." she yelled and grabbed the food before storming off.

"Where are you going?" Leonard wanted to know.

"Going home, where I won't be interrogated like a criminal." she huffed and exited the apartment and quickly entered her own.

She put the food on her table at the window and sat down on the couch, starting up her laptop before grabbing a dozen candles and placing them strategically around the apartment. With a sigh, she flopped down on one of the chairs and picked at her food, her appetite forgotten.

'Why is it so hard to pretend? I should really apologize to Sheldon, he didn't really do anything wrong.'

"Hey." Leonard took her out of her thoughts, entering her apartment.

"Hey." she greeted back, deflated.

"A little mood lighting, huh?" he asked upon seeing all the candles.

"Yeah. When I didn't pay my bill, the Department of Water and Power thought I would enjoy the ambiance." she stated sarcastically.

"Yeah, they're very considerate that way. By the way, you look amazingly hot in that top." he replied with a smile, causing her to do it too.

"I used Sheldon's money to pay my rent, then I had like fourteen dollars left over." she stated and got up from her chair.

"Fourteen dollars, huh?" he muttered and fished the money she gave him before out of his pants pocket.

"Put it back in your pocket, or I'll find some other place to put it." she threatened and he wisely complied while she sat down on the couch.

"Back in the pocket it goes. Look, you do understand that Sheldon really doesn't care when he gets the money back. It's actually one of the few idiosyncrasies that doesn't make you want to, you know, kill him."

"Yeah, well, that's not really my big problem."

"So you're a little behind on your bills. Everybody gets behind on their bills."

"Yeah, I know, it's just, this wasn't the plan, it wasn't supposed to go this way."

"Well, what was the plan?"

"Um, waitress for six months and then become a movie star?" she said, as if it wasn't totally obvious.

"Was there a plan B?" he asked as he sat down next to her, his mere presence next to her having already a calming effect.

"TV star."

"It's probably not as bad as you think. Let's take a look. Maybe we can find some corners to cut." he said and took the stack of her bills. "Oh, here's something, if you don't have electricity, then you probably don't need cable." he suggested with a smile, to which she could only glare. "Just a suggestion. 170 dollars for acting classes?"

"Oh, no, I can't give up my acting classes. I'm a professional actress." she said.

"You've had an acting job where you got paid?"

"That is not the definition of professional."

"Actually, it kind of… let's keep looking." he tried to reason but upon seeing another glare wisely stopped talking. "Whoa, what's eighteen hundred dollars to the Los Angeles County Superior Court?"

'Crap, he wasn't supposed to find that.' she thought and sighed.

"Oh god. Leonard, I have to tell you something and you're not gonna like it."

"What? Did you get caught speeding going 4,000 miles an hour?" he asked her, trying to lift her mood.

"Well, remember Kurt?"

"Your gargantuan ex-boyfriend who threatened to break me in half and eat me for breakfast?"

"Yeah. He got arrested for taking a whiz on a cop car."

"What?"

"He was drunk."

"I would hope so."

"Anyway, he had a bunch of outstanding tickets and a bench warrant, so I, you know, I paid his fines."

"Hold on." Leonard stopped her. "Your ex-boyfriend, who threatened both of us, got into trouble with the law and you paid his fines?"

"Yeah." she said sadly.

"Why would you do that?" Leonard shouted and she could feel the anger radiating off him.

"We met the other day and he invited me for coffee and promised that he had changed and we talked and suddenly I had given him the money." she said sadly. Instead of answering, Leonard got up and walked to her door. "Where are you going?"

"Home." he simply said and left. The sound of her door closing felt like someone had punched her in the gut.

'Why do I always do this?' she thought and headed into her bedroom to collapse on her bed. She felt tears pooling in her eyes, wondering how she could fix this. The last thing she wanted to do was to go to Kurt for fear of him doing something to her.

Not caring for the food that was getting cold or the fact that it wasn't even eight in the evening, she went into the living room and blew out all the candles before shutting down the laptop. She then went back into the bedroom to brush her teeth with more bottled water and changed into her pajamas.

Still thinking why she always ruined something in regards to her relationship, she fell into another restless sleep. Tomorrow she would work the last double shift before she had the week off as per Leonard's request. She still had no idea what he had planned but whatever it was, after today it was probably off the table.

In the other apartment, Leonard sat in his armchair and watched the other guys play a game while formulating a plan in his head how to help Penny.

The next day, after parking the car, Leonard walked towards the photomultiplier lab, instead of going to his own. He needed to see a certain student who worked as a lab assistant in said lab and ask him for a favor. When he entered the lab in question, the only person he saw was the man who ran it.

"Leonard, how are you." the man greeted him.

"Professor Brinkman. Nice to see you again." Leonard replied and took the offered hand.

"I told you before, you can call me Thomas when we're outside of official university business."

"Okay, Prof... Thomas."

"So, what brings you here?"

"I was actually looking for Frank, I need to ask him a favor. Is he around?" Leonard asked.

"He should be back soon. His brother showed up and then his fiance called and he had to step outside for a minute."

"Oh, I'll wait then, if that's okay with you."

"Sure. I must say Leonard, when that young man showed up and asked for the job, I was surprised that he knew you."

"Yeah, we helped each other a few times. Why, is something wrong?"

"No, quite the opposite. He turned out to be a real asset in my work, not only because he can carry my equipment around but also because of his bright mind. His way of thinking has solved some of the problems I had run into lately."

"I heard that you offered him to be his thesis adviser. Didn't you state at the latest department meeting that you didn't want to do that anymore?" Leonard asked.

"I did, yes. But after working with him and meeting his future wife, I decided to make an exception. So, I heard you took the next week off. Vacation?"

"Actually, my girlfriend's mother has her birthday but she lives in Nebraska. And since plane tickets are expensive and my girlfriend has some money issues currently, I decided to make a road trip out of it. Although my car won't thank me, making it go through a 1500 mile journey twice. And neither will my ass."

"You can borrow my car, if you want. I'm still nursing my wrist injury and can't drive the car while it heals."

"I don't know, it's a long way."

"You sure? It's a new model hybrid SUV, and very fuel efficient while also very comfortable. It gets 35 miles per gallon."

"Wow, that is efficient for a SUV." Leonard said surprised and doing a little math in his head. "That adds up to around fifty gallons of fuel for one trip."

"Exactly" Thomas agreed. "And going by current fuel prices, that gets you to around two hundred dollars fuel cost for one trip. Listen. I lend you the car for free but you have to pay the fuel you need. And I expect to get it back with its gas tank full."

"Don't you want a fee for lending it to me?"

"Look at it as a thank you for giving me Frank. He is... oh, there they are." Thomas said and pointed to the door where the hulking form of Frank squeezed through the door, followed by another shorter and slimmer but still very tall person.

"Doctor Hofstadter. This is a surprise."

"Hey Frank." Leonard greeted him and shook his hand.

"This is my brother Hank." Frank introduced the other guy.

"Frank and Hank, huh?" Leonard grinned.

"Yeah." Hank replied. "That was hilarious when hearing that in school. But once you're sixteen and six foot four while pushing two hundred and fifty pounds, the jokes stop. Especially when your fourteen year old brother is already six foot eight and pushing three hundred pounds and bench-pressing almost his own weight."

"No joke intended." Leonard said, holding his hands up. "I actually came here to ask for a favor but I don't know if I should even do it."

"What is it, Doctor Hofstadter?" Frank asked.

"Remember Penny's ex-boyfriend Kurt..."

"Lets go!" Frank interrupted and turned to leave.

"Wait. You don't even know what's going on." Leonard stopped him.

"I don't care. That guy has it coming, especially after he attacked your Penny in the grocery store."

"He attacked her in a grocery store?" Leonard asked shocked.

"Yeah. Me and Alice were shopping there as well and I saw him charging her. I intercepted him and then threw him into a dumpster behind the store. Headfirst."

"Nice. But it still wasn't nice for her to keep that from me."

"She probably had enough on her plate, I overheard her and Alice talking and she seemed to have had a very bad day. But anyway, what has he done this time?" Frank asked, his deep voice even more menacing when spoken loud.

"He got Penny to lend him money so he can pay his fine to avoid going to jail. And now he refuses to pay her back unless she goes to him in person." Leonard explained.

"Did she pay the fine for him in her name or did she give him the money and he paid it?" Hank asked.

"I... don't know. Why, is that important?" Leonard retorted.

"If she gave him a check and he cashed it, their bank statements support her claim. Also, since he wants her to come to him to get the money, we can assume that he has it in his apartment. If it's not a ploy to get her to come to him, of course." Hank explained. "So, what's the plan?"

"I wanted to go to him and ask him to hand the money over, Frank in tow. Her ex was usually quite forthcoming when the prospect of bodily harm was on the horizon."

"Then lets go, I'll come too." Hank said and the trio set out.

"Wait Leonard." Professor Brinkman shouted before they could leave. "What about my offer?"

"Oh, yes, I accept. I will get it tomorrow after work, if that's okay. I had planned to head out on Saturday morning and return nine days later. Can you hold out without a car for that long?"

"Sure, no problem. See you tomorrow. I will tell my wife in case I'm not home."

"Thanks Thomas." Leonard said and walked out of the lab quickly to catch up with Frank and Hank.

A short drive later, they stood outside the block, waiting for a few minutes until an older woman exited it and thus opened the door for them. They got up the three floors and to the door to Kurt's apartment.

"So, what's the plan?" Leonard asked.

"I will hang back a bit and Frank will stand against the wall here." Hank started, pointing at the wall next to Kurt's door. Leonard saw that the placement would allow Frank to not be detected if Kurt didn't step out of his apartment. "If he gets out of hand, we'll interject. Try to get him to admit that he borrowed the money from her and refuses to pay her back unless she comes to him."

"Okay, I'll try." Leonard said and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the unmistakable form of Kurt opened the door, beer bottle in hand, looking down at Leonard with a mixture of rage and disbelief.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I came here for the eighteen hundred dollars you owe Penny."

"No. She will get her money when she comes here to get it herself. Otherwise, it remains with me."

"Can I imply from your response that her money is currently present in your apartment somewhere."

"Yeah..." Kurt slowly said, not knowing where Leonard was going with this.

"You do realize that Penny has no interest in you whatsoever, right?" Leonard asked. "So, getting her here won't really change something, especially if you are trying to convince her that you have changed. The only reason for your demanding her to get here is that you want to force her to do something."

"Listen up, you runt. You stole that bitch from me and if she wants her money back, she has to work for it. And if you don't leave now, I will break you in half." Kurt threatened.

"I hope you remember what happened every time you threatened me like this." Leonard said.

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do, call your..." Kurt started but stopped talking when Frank stepped around the corner. "Oh, not you again." he screamed and smashed the beer bottle against the door frame before he charged at Frank with the upper half in hand.

Frank remained undeterred and simply took a step to the side while grabbing Kurt's outstretched arm, making the sharp end of the bottle half miss him by a lot. While holding Kurt's wrist, he put his other hand on Kurt's back and shoved him hard against the opposite wall, stepping right behind him to prevent him from moving or kicking out.

"That's quite enough." Frank said calmly while Kurt continued to struggle.

"Let me go you big ogre! I'm going to fucking kill you!" Kurt shouted, his struggles useless against Frank's herculean strength.

"Okay, that's enough." Hanks strong and authoritative voice rang through the din. "You're under arrest for assault with intent to kill." Hank continued and held is LAPD police badge under Kurt's nose after which Kurt suddenly became very still.

"I didn't know you were a cop." Leonard said after Hank had cuffed Kurt with Frank still holding him.

"You never asked." Hank replied and called the police, giving them his badge number to facilitate faster processing.

Not five minutes later, the trample of feet announced the arrival of the uniformed police officers. Hank went to them and exchanged a few words with them, pointing to Leonard and his brother and Kurt. One of the officers led a renewed struggling and cursing Kurt away, Frank going with him to keep him in line, while the other officer stayed behind.

"Officer." Hank started. "The man you just arrested has one thousand and eight hundred dollars in his apartment that don't belong to him but to the girlfriend of this young man here. He came here to collect it."

"I don't know if I can allow that even with your word supporting the claim." he officer replied.

"I have a recording, if that helps." Hank said and took out his phone, replaying the conversation between Leonard and Kurt.

"I guess the case is clear in that regard. Do you know where the money is located?" the officer directed towards Leonard.

"No, but the last time such a thing had happened, it was in a drawer under the TV." Leonard replied, thinking back to the day he got Penny's TV for her.

"I will look through them for you." the officer said, putting on gloves. "And I will need the recording too as evidence."

It took only thirty seconds and three drawers to find a stack of bills. The officer counted them and they summed up to exactly eighteen hundred dollars, upon which he rolled them up and wrapped them in a rubber band he had produced somewhere from his uniform before handing them to Leonard.

"Here you go, Sir."

"Thank you officer." Leonard said, shocked that the officer really had gotten the money. Leonard had expected more problems after Kurt's arrest.

"Don't look so shocked. The delinquent did admit that the money wasn't his and that he implied that he wanted to hurt or violate the owner of the money when she got here. Also, since he's on the hook for assault with intent to kill, I don't think he will object to you taking the money and add intent to rape to the charge."

"Just make sure that she doesn't let herself be persuaded into paying a fine for him again." Hank grinned as the officer bid his goodbye.

They followed him downstairs and were met by Frank on the sidewalk. The police car drove off, leaving the other three standing at Leonard's car.

"I can't thank you enough for your help." Leonard said, shaking both man's hands.

"It was our pleasure." Hank said and Frank agreed.

"Let me buy you lunch. The Cheesecake Factory is not that far from here." Leonard suggested.

"Uh, I'd like that, their barbecue burgers are great." Frank said happily and wrung his hands.

"Are you sure you want to buy him lunch? He'll eat an entire page of the menu." Hank said.

"Shut up, little man." Frank laughed.

Laughing, they drove to the Cheesecake Factory. Leonard was a bit apprehensive about meeting Penny since they had ended the preceding evening on not so good terms.

"I have one favor to ask. Don't mention the money in front of Penny. I want to surprise her tonight. Also, if her reaction is more negative because of interfering with her life, I should be the one facing the blowout." Leonard said and the others agreed as he parked the car in front of the restaurant.

"There are three hunks at table eleven." Cheryl whispered to Penny with a giggly voice.

"So what?" Penny replied exasperated. "Cheryl, I don't have time to indulge in your appetites. I have to find a way to fix things with Leonard after he found out about me paying Kurt's fine."

"Well, maybe you can start right now, he is one of the three hunks." Cheryl grinned.

"What?" Penny whipped her head around, seeing Leonard sitting at the table with Frank and another man she didn't know. She grabbed the menus and headed to the table with a smile. Even mad at her, Leonard still came to her place of work.

"Hey guys." Penny greeted the group.

Leonard lifted his head and gave her a small smile. Taking it as an invitation and hoping that she didn't misjudge it too much, she bent down and placed a soft kiss on his mouth which he reciprocated by pursing his lips before they connected.

"Hello Penny." Frank greeted her.

"Penny, this is Frank's brother Hank." Leonard introduced the unknown man. "Hank, this is my girlfriend Penny."

"Nice to meet you." Hank said and Penny returned the greeting.

"Yeah, he's my little brother." Frank grinned.

"To clarify, I'm older than him. But when you brother is seven foot two then you're considered small even with six foot seven." Hank smiled.

"Do you need menus or do you know what you want?" Penny asked, still laughing.

"I take my usual." Frank said.

"Three barbecue burgers, bacon on the side, extra large fries and a diet coke? Got it."

"I take a barbecue burger as well, no bacon, with fries and a sprite." Leonard ordered.

"Is that burger good?" Hank asked, having never eaten here.

"It's amazing." Frank said.

"Then I'll take one too."

"Coming right up." Penny said and almost hopped away, her mood much improved by the kiss.

"I see that you two seem to be doing better already." Cheryl said from behind her after Penny had delivered the order to the kitchen.

"Apparently, although we still need to talk. And you could lose the hint of regret from your voice." Penny said, poking out her tongue,

"Yeah yeah, keep rubbing it in and I will get a blond wig and a lot of alcohol." Cheryl replied, also poking out her tongue and quickly hurrying away, leaving Penny standing there open-mouthed.

She brought the food to the group and retreated back to the bar, waiting for one of her tables to be done and using the time to watch Leonard. She saw him talking and laughing with the guys although the sheer size of the other two made them look like a gay couple that was out with their son. From time to time he would catch her eye and give her a wink or a smile, telling her without words that things between them would be okay.

After Leonard and Hank had finished eating, with Frank having more or less inhaled his food, she collected their dishes and gave them the check which Leonard paid all by himself, adding a generous tip. She wondered what he had asked of them to have to pay for their lunch but she could ask him later the day when they had the talk they needed to have.

With a wistful look, she watched Leonard and the others leave. For her, today's double shift couldn't end soon enough.

After her shift had finally ended, the sky was darkening already as she drove home. Her feet were sore from a week of double shifts and she still wondered why he had insisted on her taking a full week off while knowing that a visit to her parents for her mother's birthday was impossible due to her monetary situation. Regardless, she had now nine consecutive days off and she could try to enjoy them, at least once she found a way to pay her energy bill.

She parked her car next to Leonard's, seeing a big and seemingly brand new SUV standing next to it and walked up the stairs, both wanting to go fast to see Leonard again and go slow to avoid the uncomfortable talk they needed to have. After reaching the fourth floor, she wondered if she should knock on Leonard's door first but she should at least change before. Also, she had to ask him if she could use his shower, since she still didn't have her water back on yet. With a sigh, she chose changing first and headed into her apartment.

"Hey." Leonard's voice made her startle with a shriek.

"EEK." she squealed in shock. "Jeez, Leonard. Why are you sitting here in the dark?" she asked, holding her hand over her heart, trying to slow it down.

"Because your lights don't work without energy." he replied. "And it's not totally dark, I'm getting my screen tan." he grinned and put his laptop down on her table.

"Let me rephrase that question. Why are you sitting in my apartment at all?"

"We need to talk." came the reply and Penny got a sinking feeling in her stomach. Usually it was women starting a conversation like this and it never ended well.

"I know." she sighed and sat down next to him. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier about the thing with Kurt. We are supposed to be in a relationship and it was stupid of me to hide it from you. But I felt that it was my problem to solve and it would have been unfair to you to burden you with it. I promise, I never wanted to hurt or deceive you."

"Um... okay, you basically saved us a lot of time now." he grinned. "I'm glad you think that way but what I wanted to talk to you about is that I hope you're not mad at me for involving myself in your affairs."

"What do you mean?"

"Here." Leonard said and handed Penny a thick envelope, where he had put the money in. It seemed more appropriate than handing her a roll of money.

Penny grabbed the envelope and hesitantly opened it. Her eyes opened wide and her mouth followed upon seeing the stack of bills inside. She couldn't believe her eyes. Leonard had handed her a bunch of money but she knew that she couldn't accept a gift like this from him, even when he was her boyfriend.

"Leonard, I can't accept this. It's a nice sentiment that you want to give me money to help me out but even if you are my boyfriend, this is way too much."

"What? Oh, no, no, no." Leonard interjected, finally understanding her confusion. "This isn't me giving you my money, this is your money."

"What?"

"I got it from your ex-boyfriend."

"How did you manage to get it from him?" she asked, shocked at the fact that he had success where she had none.

"I appealed to his sense of honor." he replied with a straight face.

"Wait a minute. Frank, of course. That's why you paid their lunch bill."

"Yeah. By the way, Kurt is probably going to jail."

"Really? What did he do?"

"He attacked Frank with a smashed bottle. His brother, who by the way is a cop in LA, arrested him, called the police and had him hauled away. He also recorded the exchange, so they have evidence of Kurt threatening me and Frank, going so far as directly saying that he would kill him."

"Wow." Penny said and sat back.

"Hank also told me to tell you not to pay any fine or bail put on him, no matter how much he begs."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't do it even if I could afford to pay a possible bail. But paying my water and energy bills plus my cable bill and paying back Sheldon is more important than that moron."

"Good to know. Now come on, grab some clothes and lets go." Leonard said and stood up, grabbing his laptop.

"Excuse me? What are you doing?"

"Penny, you really need a shower. So, take some clothes, come to my place, go into our shower, take off your uniform, wash the grit from your skin, make some pictures of your gorgeous naked body and get dressed again in civilian clothes. Then we can have dinner."

"Oh, great. Except the picture part, I won't do that. At least not today." she said grinning and grabbed some sweat clothes. "Will you then come back with me to my place and spend the night?" she asked seductively.

"No." he replied and her face fell. "You still need to pack and then we both have to head to bed early."

"What? Why?"

"Because we need to get going at five in the morning tomorrow."

"I'm lost. Go where?"

"Where do you think? Why do you think I needed you to take the week off. Go to your parents of course."

"But, it's still expensive and I thought you had to order plane tickets early."

"Oh no, we're going on a road trip." he grinned.

"Really?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah. Professor Brinkman offered me his car. It's a hybrid SUV with a very high fuel efficiency, so the fuel costs are not as high as you might expect. But we still need approximately twenty-four hours for one trip, that's why I want to head out early so we can get as far as possible before stopping for the night."

"That's an amazing idea. How did you come up with this?"

"I thought it would be nice to take a trip together. And it would only be you and me."

"That's so great. I love this idea." she said and kissed him hard, something she wanted to do all day. "By the way, did Sheldon finally figure out what we're a couple after you told him that you and I are going to Nebraska?"

"Actually, Sheldon thinks I'm going to a seminar about experimental physics."

"What? Why would he think that."

"Because there really is a seminar happening next week in Denver. I told him that I would be gone next week and he assumed that I was going to the seminar. And I simply didn't correct him. Also, the fact that I picked up Professor Brinkman's car today makes him think that I drive because Brinkman can't use a car himself due to his wrist injury."

"You're a sneaky one, Doctor Hofstadter." she grinned. "I know that we agreed to stop doing our utmost to sneak around but it's getting ridiculous how clueless they are. I mean seriously, we kissed passionately on New Years and you're spending more nights in my bed than in yours. Howard heard us having sex."

"To be fair, he didn't know it was me."

"Still, it's getting really ridiculous." she said and walked out with him, grabbing five hundred dollars from the envelope to pay back Sheldon.

"Enjoy the time we still can screw with them." he grinned and both went into 4A.

"Finally, you're here. Now we can eat." Sheldon said, sitting in his spot.

"Sorry sweetie, had to thank Leonard for helping me out. Oh, and here's the money back that I owed you." she said and handed Sheldon the bills.

"Thank you Penny." Sheldon said and accepted the money.

"How did you thank him." Howard asked in his usual creepy voice and Penny knew exactly what he was after.

"Oh Howard." she replied in a sultry voice. "I threw him onto my bed and did a sensual striptease before I rode him so hard he begged me to stop but I wouldn't, not until I was satisfied. And now I will use his shower to clean myself up."

"She's so funny. She had no water for three days now, that's why she is showering here." Sheldon interjected, making Penny shake her head at their seemingly willful ignorance.

She went into the bathroom and locked the door before getting out of her uniform and stepping into the shower. Enjoying the hot water, she took her time and after twenty minutes, she dried herself up and put on the other clothes she brought, putting her used ones in a bag before heading back out into the living room where Leonard had kept the wooden chair free for her while Raj sat on the couch between Howard and Sheldon again.

"Penny, just so you can prepare yourself, since Leonard goes to that week-long seminar, you have the privilege of driving me to work all next week." Sheldon said, serious.

"First of all, it's not a privilege, it's a chore and a burdening one to boot." she replied to him and held up a hand to prevent a comment from him. "And second, I'm also not here next week. My mom's birthday is coming up and I intend to spend the entire week with my family. I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Then who's going to drive me to work?" Sheldon asked incredulous and looked to Howard and Raj, both of whom shook their heads.

"I'll take you Sheldon, hope you like riding along on a scooter again." Howard said and grinned as Raj looked on with panic in his eyes, his mental condition making him unable to voice his refusal aloud.

"Your scooter is a deathtrap. So, Raj, you're the winner." Sheldon said while Raj hung is head in defeat.

"Well, thanks for the shower and dinner but I still need to pack. And then I have to go to bed early." Penny said and headed out, giving Leonard a little wink.

After returning to her apartment, she tried to pack her luggage as best she could in candlelight, taking care to pack warm clothing for the cold March temperatures in Nebraska but not forgetting some of the clothes she would only wear for Leonard's benefit. Knowing her mother, Penny would probably be able to use their washing machine, so she didn't pack a pair of underwear for every day. She added some toiletries for the trip and not able to think about more, she pushed her luggage into the living room.

You don't need to pack underwear for every day, we can use my parent's washing machine she texted Leonard, not knowing if he had already packed.

Thanks, now my luggage is a bit lighter :) came the reply, making her smile.

Okay, I'm going to bed now

Me too. I'm knocking on your door at around 5 am

Understood. Setting my alarm clock now ;) she wrote and put her words into actions, setting her alarm for ten minutes before five. Plenty of time to get ready in the dark. She looked around her dark apartment once again, trying to remember if she had forgotten to pack anything. Not able to think of something, she changed into her pajamas and headed to bed.

Her alarm clock yanked her out of bed at the ungodly hour of a few minutes to five in the morning. Even with the knowledge that it was necessary she cursed at the early hour. She headed sleepily into her bathroom and collapsed onto her toilet, letting go while trying not to fall asleep again. The only time she like being woken up at this time of day was when Leonard did it in some form of foreplay.

After she had washed her face and brushed her teeth with water from yet another water bottle, she headed back into her bedroom to change out of her pajamas and into some underwear. Just as she grabbed a pair of pants, she heard her apartment door opening.

"Penny? You ready? Take the cash with you and we can stop at a branch office of your bank on Monday so you can pay your bills." Leonard asked from the living room.

"I'm getting dressed right now. And that's a good idea." she called out and fumbled with her jeans.

"Take your time, you look great in those panties." his voice interrupted her and she turned around to see him standing against the door frame. The dawn light coming into her window was enough to illuminate his grinning face.

"Like what you see?" she asked with a smile.

"Always."

"What are you going to do about it?" she said seductively and started to pull her panties down again.

"I'm going to turn around and wait in the living room for you to finish dressing." he said.

"Yeah, and then we can... wait, what? I had hoped to have some sexy time. We hadn't had sex at all since my period was over."

"Believe me, I want nothing more than to press you onto the bed and take you hard. But I know that if we do that, we won't be getting out of here for another hour and then we'll be even more tired than now."

"You're no fun." Penny pouted.

"Oh, I had planned to make it to Denver today where we can spend the night in a hotel. And once there, I want to take you against the wall." he grinned.

"If you take me against the wall, I will ride you to oblivion right after." she grinned back and put on her pants and shirt. "Did you pack a coat and other warm clothes? March temperatures in Nebraska are in their forties."

"Yep, packed enough warm sweaters, warm socks, the whole shebang. "

"Wow, I'm surprised at how awake I am without coffee. Must be the excitement." Penny said and grabbed her luggage.

"I prepared some coffee in a thermos flask so it stays warm in case you want to sleep some more in the car." he replied and followed her outside, his luggage standing in the hallway.

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around." she laughed.

"As a source of caffeine and orgasmic pleasure?"

"You bet. But nothing else." she said and poked out her tongue.

"You wanna walk to Nebraska?" he grinned.

"Okay, I keep you as a chauffeur too."

"Funny. Now lets go."

Still laughing, they went down the stairs and into the car.

Despite her attempts to stay awake, the comfort of the car soon lulled her to sleep. She had no idea how long she had been asleep when Leonard gently shook her awake. She rolled round to him with a smile and pulled the lever to bring her seat back up to a sitting position.

"Hey. How far are we?" she asked him.

"We just crossed the state line into Utah." he replied.

"Really? What time is it? How long have I been asleep?"

"It's after ten. You slept for about five hours, give or take."

"Wow. This car really is comfy."

"Yep. The air condition keeps the temperature even and the seats are very snug. But we should gas up soon, we have dropped below quarter. The gas tank wasn't full when we started."

"How big is the gas tank of this car?"

"Twenty-five gallons."

"Wow, that is big."

"It's a SUV, what do you expect. But thanks to that engine, it gets 35 miles to the gallon."

"Damn, I need a car like this." Penny said.

"To be honest, I don't think you could afford one like this right now. Neither could I by the way."

"Want to switch places so you can rest a bit?"

"Yes please. I'll continue until we reach a rest stop, we gas up and take a lunch break."

"Sounds like a plan." Penny agreed and leaned back into her seat.

She felt much better now after catching up on some more sleep. She grabbed the thermos flask Leonard had prepared and filled the lid with coffee, downing it in a few swigs before filling it up again and handing it to Leonard. He gratefully accepted the hot liquid and sighed after drinking it down.

They continued in idle conversation for an hour until they came across a gas station with attached rest stop. Penny would have liked to do something more but since Leonard was driving, not much was available.

Leonard halted the car next to a pump and went to work, letting the gas flow into the tank. Penny looked at the meter and watched the number of gallons and especially the price rise and rise. It finally stopped at just over nineteen gallons, with the price ending up at seventy-four dollars plus some change. She really needed to divide the costs between them so he won't pay for it all.

"Okay, lets park the car over there and get something to eat." Leonard said after he had paid for the gas with his credit card.

"You really want to have gas station lunch?"

"No, there's a food van over there."

"Where?"

"By that construction site. Short-order cooking is better than gas station food on any given day." he said and both exited the car after he parked it close to the resting area.

"That's true." she agreed and linked her arm through his as they made their way to the food mobile.

Leonard ordered a loaded omelet without the cheese and Penny chose a BLT, which she ordered to be made not before Leonard's food was done so they could eat together, since Leonard's order took longer to make than her sandwich. With a knowing smile, the cook set to work and just over ten minutes later, both were sitting on the wooden benches, consuming a filling lunch with Penny eating hers in the old habit of pulling pieces of the bread off instead of biting.

"So, from here on I'll drive. How long do you think it will take for us to reach Denver?" she asked between bites.

"Eight to nine hours, depending on the flow of traffic. If we can keep the speed up to eighty and there are no interruptions like traffic jams or construction sites, we could make it in under seven hours."

"Which would let us be in Denver by six, give or take. Plenty of time to do a little sightseeing, don't you think?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah but not for too long though. We could go to the seminar site so I can pick up a few things for Sheldon."

"Why?"

"Well, since he thinks I'm at the seminar, why not indulge his illusion a bit." he grinned. "But if you want to be at your parent's as soon as possible, we can't go sightseeing too long since we need to head out early again tomorrow."

"How long will the drive be from Denver to Omaha?"

"About six hours if we don't take breaks."

"Then here's the plan." she started. "We go to Denver, get your science stuff, check into a hotel, shower and eat and then head into town to see what the nearest shopping mall has to offer. And then back to the hotel, sex, more sex, shower, sex again, sleep, then sex again and then we can resume our trip at eight or nine after breakfast. No need to start before."

"I like the sex part." he grinned. "Not so much the shopping."

"What's so bad about shopping?"

"Apart from the fact that I'm usually the bag holder?"

"Ha ha. Now lets go, the clock is running."

They threw away the plastic dishes and returned to the car, Leonard getting into the passenger seat while Penny started adjusting her seat and the mirrors. When she started driving, she was marveled at how good the car's control was. It took barely any effort to drive it and as Leonard made himself comfortable in the other seat, Penny activated cruise control and concentrated on keeping the car on the road.

The combination of a full stomach and a prone position soon lulled Leonard into a nap and Penny smiled when she heard him snoring softly. Although she would have loved to have him awake to keep her company, his presence alone was a comforting factor and she let him sleep like he did her in the morning.

When Leonard woke up again, she had driven almost four hours and two of those hours had been some of the hardest she ever had to endure. She had no idea what exactly Leonard had been dreaming about but the bulge that had developed in his pants had been a good indicator of the general direction. It had been hard not to run her hand over his erection, much less to stop somewhere and use it for its intended purpose.

"What time is it? Where are we?" Leonard asked.

"It's a quarter to five. We're almost there. We just past the twenty miles sign to Denver." Penny said.

"Okay, so I can congratulate you for speeding." Leonard grinned.

"Maybe I did go over the speed limit from time to time." she grinned back.

"You just want to be in Denver for dinner." he quipped.

"Yes! I'm hungry." 'Not to mention, extremely horny.' she added in her head.

They drove the last twenty miles in silence, the increased traffic taking too much of Penny's concentration to give much input in conversations. They passed the suburbs and were soon in Denver properly but Penny had really no idea where they should spend the night.

"I'm setting the GPS to 200 West 48th Avenue." Leonard said as if reading her mind. "The Quality Inn is relatively cheap but still offers good rooms, according to online reviews."

She followed the directions and after only thirty minutes more, Penny parked the car on the lot behind the hotel. Both stepped out of the car and stretched their bodies, the rigor of hours behind the wheel taking its toll.

Since the parking lot was fenced and monitored, they grabbed only one bag each, which held their underwear and toiletries, deciding to leave the rest in the car since they didn't need it tonight. They went into the hotel and Leonard got them a room for the night, quickly receiving the key. They went into the elevator and rode up the three floors until they were in front of their door.

After entering the room, Penny looked around and found it clean and comfortable looking. A good-sized bed dominated the right side while a closet did the same with the left. A door led to an en suite bathroom with a shower cabin but no bathtub. Leonard dropped his bag and collapsed backwards onto the bed with a sigh. She felt equally tired and was seriously contemplating about dropping her planned shopping trip.

"I'm going to take a shower." Penny said and grabbed some new underwear and toiletries before heading into the bathroom.

She discarded her clothes and stepped into the cabin, turning on the tap and easing it to a comfortable temperature setting. As she stood facing the wall and felt the water ran down her body, she heard the bathroom door open and wondered if he needed to use the toilet despite his hesitation when she or other people were around.

A cold breeze of air assaulted her back when Leonard opened the slide door of the shower cabin. Before she could ask him what he was doing, his arms were around her waist and she felt his hard erection pressing against her back.

"What are you doing?" she asked playfully when his lips latched on to the pulse point on her neck, making her shiver despite the warm water.

He simply hummed and held her tight, making her skin tingle when his teeth nipped her skin. She knew that this wouldn't romantic or slow, this would be a hard and fast fulfillment of urges. She couldn't blame him since she felt the same thing, having waited for ten days now to feel him inside her again.

To nudge him along, she lifted her ass and ran it over his manhood, eliciting an urgent groan from him. He wasted no more time and took one of his hands off her waist to guide him self to her center before he pushed in to the hilt and immediately started pounding her hard, not giving her any time to get used to him.

"God, Leonard!" she shouted at the sudden penetration before her vocabulary devolved into nothing but moans and yelps when he hit her sweet spot with his thrusts. His hand moved to the mixer tap, shutting off the water to save some for later before it went to her left breast and started kneading it, his fingers pinching her nipple.

Her head fell backwards as her first orgasm coursed through her and she turned it to meet his lips. Their tongues engaged in a furious battle while the sound of their bodies slamming together reverberated through the room. Penny knew that if the adjoining room was occupied, the people in their would get quite an audio show. Leonard pushed her against the cold and wet tiles and continued to pummel her hard.

When his right hand went between her legs to rub her clit in sync with his thrusts, she couldn't stop the second orgasm coming, even if she had wanted to. Sometimes she felt a pang of guilt about having so many orgasms while he worked her hard but he never complained and she couldn't bring herself to say anything against it since it felt way too good.

His grunts became harder and his pounding increased in speed and intensity. Penny knew that it signaled his impending climax and to help him along, she started clenching her inner muscles every time he pushed in. She knew he loved when she did that but it had also the added bonus of making the experience even better for her because she felt every movement of him against her inner walls.

His hand on her clit moved equally faster and when he climaxed with a loud groan, she fell off the cliff with him one last time. Breathing hard, he rested his head against her shoulder and slid out of her, an action she rewarded with a whimper.

"You have no idea how much I have missed this." he panted and kissed her neck.

"Probably about as much as I missed it." she smiled and tilted her head to give him better access.

"And I kept my promise. I said I would take you against a wall and I did." he grinned and reopened the tap.

Since they were both already in the cabin and naked, they showered together to save time. After drying themselves off, they each got dressed in a new pair of underwear and headed out into the living room again where they deposited their used clothes into a separate bag before putting it back into the luggage.

"So, you want to go on your shopping trip now?" Leonard asked as Penny let herself collapse on the bed.

"Actually, my body is currently a bit weak thanks to the lack of food and the afterglow of mind-blowing shower sex." Penny said grinning.

"Dinner downstairs?"

"Yes please." she said as her phone buzzed with an incoming message.

"Who's it from?" Leonard asked after placing the order to room service.

"Cheryl. She's asking how the trip goes so far. She's so nosy. I bet Kim is sitting beside her right now." Penny said and typed a response.

"What are you telling her?"

"The truth. 'Trip was great. We are in Denver right now in a hotel room. Just had shower sex with three orgasms.' And send."

"Isn't that a bit too much information?" he asked.

"Leonard, when it comes to those two, I will always brag with the truth about your sexual prowess just to see them turn green with envy." she grinned and received another message. "Girl, you walk on thin ice." she quoted and typed another message but before Leonard could ask what she wrote, she jumped up and pulled him outside.

They went into the hotel restaurant and both ordered a fish meal because it was light enough to facilitate an easier falling asleep. The cook must be really fast because it took less than ten minutes for their meals to arrive.

"Didn't you want to get some stuff for Sheldon from the science thing?" she asked as they ate.

"Screw him. I feel the same way you are. Still basking in the afterglow of sex and tired from all the driving."

"Good." she smiled and they continued eating as she prepared to do what she had wrote Cheryl and Kim she would and had promised him this morning.

They finished their meal and Leonard let the waiter put it on Leonard's hotel tab. As they moved out of the restaurant, Penny's tight sweater and pants attracted lewd looks from a group of young men, one of them going so far as to wink at her. She put her hands into Leonard's and linked their fingers, showing the group that she was taken and they had no chance of ever scoring with her.

"So, any outside activity planned for the evening?" Leonard asked after they were back in their room.

"No, I really am beat from the drive." Penny yawned.

"Okay, then I'll get comfortable." he said and took off his pants and hoodie, getting into bed wearing only his shirt and shorts, and his socks of course, and taking the TV remote, turning on the TV to a random channel. "Anything specific you want to watch?"

Instead of answering, Penny waited until he looked at her before she slowly unbuttoned her pants and turned her back to him. Equally slowly, she pulled her jeans down, revealing her light blue underwear to him. While not a thong, it revealed more skin of her cheeks than it covered and she could almost hear him gulp.

Turning back around, she again slowly pulled off her sweater, revealing a bra the same color as her panties and watched with a smile as the familiar bulge grew in his shorts. Not changing the speed of her movements, she stalked to the bed, placing her hands and one knee on it before crawling towards him.

Leonard swallowed hard and pushed himself backwards a bit. He was in no way scared but watching this blond goddess, who agreed to be his girlfriend, move towards him like a feral cat made him climax almost immediately without having her touch him once. God, how much he loved that woman. He just needed to find a way to tell her without fearing that she wouldn't say it back or just say it to placate him.

"Do you really think I want to watch TV?" she breathed and fingered with the waist band of his shorts, pulling it down and freeing his erection from its confinement.

"There's a documentary about the mating rituals of lions and tigers." he quipped and wondered what part of his brain had any blood left to make up such a joke.

"Do lions and tigers do this?" she asked with sultry voice and dipped her head down, taking him into her mouth and wetting his tip with her tongue by swirling it around.

"I bet they could learn a thing or two from us." he managed to say before his eyes rolled back into his skull when Penny went down even further, taking him in completely.

Blood seemed to be coming back to his brain because he heard it rushing past his ears, almost drowning out the slurping sounds of his cock in Penny's mouth as she blew him. She knew exactly when to slow down or speed up to keep him on the edge of the cliff without allowing him to jump.

Penny smiled to herself internally, her mouth unable to do it because of Leonard's thick manhood inside it. The weekend before, she had searched the internet for ways on how to please a man with your mouth and on Tuesday she had taken her exam, so to speak, by keeping him on the edge for almost an hour before she let him release.

And just as he had learned by doing how to please her with his tongue for a long time, she managed to learn the same with thing, the difference today being that she had no intention of letting him climax or drawing it out for an hour. Her own arousal was already sky-high and today she didn't have mother nature blocking any release.

She got surprised when Leonard suddenly pulled his upper body into a sitting position by placing his hand on the back of her head. Deliberately or not, the move pushed his cock deeper into her mouth than she was prepared for and before the gag reflex could overcome her, she quickly relaxed her throat when she felt his hands opening the clasp of her bra and pulling the fabric off her.

"Wow, that was a surprising move." she said after releasing him, taking a deep breath.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking. But am I a bad guy for thinking that it looked amazing?"

"I don't know without seeing it." she said and Leonard grabbed his phone that was lying on the nightstand next to the bed.

"Take it in again like before." he commanded and she complied with a grin. Before she could even begin to wonder what he had planned, he sat up again with his hand on the back of her head and snapped a picture before lying back down again. Luckily the whole thing was short enough for her not to gag.

"What was that about?" she asked him.

"Look at it." he grinned and showed her the picture. Although it was her on the receiving end, she still had to laugh at her own facial expression. Eyes wide in surprise and her cheeks round as if her mouth was filled with a dozen cherries. The positioning of her head between his legs and her mouth around his base with not a single millimeter of his manhood outside her mouth was extremely arousing to her.

"Wow. But I think now it's time to repay my efforts." she grinned and took off her panties before straddling his lap again.

"Oh? And how do you suppose I should do that?" he asked with another grin.

"Well, I think pleasuring me for an inordinate amount of time is a good way to start." she said in a sultry voice and slowly sank down on him with a moan, letting his manhood stretch her insides.

"An inordinate amount of time?" he asked after she had settled. "Given how tight you are and how amazingly good this feels, I don't think I can last long."

"Leonard, over the last year I have learned your tells very well. I think I can keep you from coming for a while." she said with pride.

"Okay then, do your best." he grinned in response.

Penny did as she promised and slowly rode him, bringing him to the brink like she had with her mouth without letting him climax, watching out for the telltale signs of the changes in his breathing or how his hands grasped her tighter. Every time he did, she simply slowed down or stopped altogether until he had calmed down enough before starting her slow grinding movements again.

This position didn't allow herself to experience the amazing and frequent orgasms she usually had when riding him but this was a whole new level of sexual intercourse, not just going for the quick release but the whole experience of making love.

She managed for thirty-five minutes to keep him in limbo before she herself couldn't take it anymore and fulfilled her promise she made in the morning to ride him to oblivion by speeding up exponentially and riding him hard and fast until both of them climaxed at the same time.

After another shower, both changed into their underwear again, since their pajamas were still in the car. Penny took the shirt Leonard had on before his first shower to use it as a sleeping shirt before she climbed into bed with him. After settling into their regular sleeping position of him spooning her, both fell into a satisfied sleep.

Tomorrow, she would finally see her parents in person again and hopefully, they would like Leonard the same way after meeting him in person.

After getting woken by Leonard in his special way with his head between her legs and subsequently getting mounted by him before being pounded hard, they both took another shower and headed downstairs to enjoy the breakfast buffet. As soon as they were done eating, Leonard paid the bill and both headed outside to their car, depositing the bags back into the car and driving off, the GPS set on Omaha with Penny in the drivers seat as per their agreement.

"I did something really stupid but it felt right at the time." Penny sighed after getting back on the highway.

"What did you do?" Leonard said.

"That picture you took yesterday? I copied it to my phone."

"That doesn't sound stupid."

"I don't mean the copying. But I... kinda... sent it to Cheryl."

"What? Why would you do that?" Leonard asked, shocked.

"Remember yesterday, when I told you that I like to brag about you to them? I thought it would be fun to make them even more envious by showing us in action. I mean, I had you completely in my mouth so they don't see your tool at all." Penny explained. "I know it was an irrational thought but I just had mind-blowing sex with you and I just reacted."

"Ah, what the hell. Let them be envious. As you said, they can't really see anything." Leonard said, waving his hand.

"Wow, that quite the cavalier attitude."

"What can I say, I'm a man of many facets." he grinned.

"Remember not to say some comment in regard to our sexual habits in front of my parents." she grinned back and concentrated on the road again. The monotony of the landscape combined with the movement of the car soon lulled Leonard back into a light sleep, which Penny didn't want to disturb because he looked too cute.

When Penny crossed the sign for the exit to Lexington, she decided to use the rest stop she was about to pass. When she stopped, Leonard woke up as if on cue, sitting up in surprise.

"Uh, I fell asleep." he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah you did." she agreed with a smile while both got out of the car and stretched their legs. "And now that you are well rested, you can drive the rest of the way."

"Where are we?"

"Almost in Lexington."

"So we are... about three hours away from Omaha." Leonard said after doing quick math in his head and looking at his watch. "You were speeding again, weren't you?"

"A bit, yeah. So if you don't slow down too much, we should be at my parents' house by dinner time." she said and saw Leonard fidgeting a little. "Are you nervous about meeting my parents?"

"A bit, yeah." he admitted, mirroring her admission earlier word for word.

"Don't worry. They already like you."

"Maybe. But meeting the man who bangs your daughter?"

"Bangs? Leonard, your language has really devolved since I met you." she admonished playfully.

"Hm, I wonder what or who might be responsible for that." he replied and poked out his tongue before getting into the drivers seat, leaving Penny standing open-mouthed for a few seconds until she snapped out of it and got into the passengers seat.

Despite Leonard's assurances that he would wake her upon reaching the outskirts of Omaha, Penny couldn't get to sleep. She felt too giddy to be finally be with her parents again and with every passing mile she got more and more enthusiastic. She pointed out everything she saw and told him a story about it, making him smile at her anticipation.

"We're in Omaha now." Penny said after they passed the city limits.

"Really? I hadn't figured that."

"Watch the sarcasm, mister. We can take the route through the outskirts and save us the later afternoon traffic in the center. It's a longer route but it should save time." she suggested.

"Good idea. Is there a gas station close by? Then we can gas up again, save us some time later."

"Of course. It's Omaha, there are gas stations everywhere."

"Watch the sarcasm, lady." he grinned and they continued on with idle conversation until they reached the gas station.

Leonard once again gassed up and paid the bill, making Penny determined to pay the return trip. It took another twenty minutes until turned into the street at which end the house, where Penny grew up in, stood.

"Imagine the look on my parents face." she grinned.

"Why?"

"I didn't tell them we were coming."

"Why not?" he asked.

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Well, lets see how that goes." he said and they pulled up on the driveway. Penny could see her father standing on the lawn next to the house, looking at their car curiously. With a big grin, she unbuckled her seatbelt and bolted from the car.

"DADDY!" she shouted happily and bounced towards the gate, running through it and into the arms of her surprised father, hugging him.

Leonard got out of the car more slowly and walked towards the two, a smile on his lips at Penny's happiness. She heard talking excitedly to her father and waited a few feet away to give them some time.

"Come here son." Wyatt called him over.

"Good evening Sir." Leonard said after he walked over the two and extended his hand.

"I already told you to call me Wyatt." her father said and Leonard was shocked when he was pulled into a bear hug. For a moment he was overwhelmed, the open display of affection a total reverse of his own family.

"Where is mom?" Penny asked.

"She's in the kitchen, fixing dinner I suppose."

Penny hurried into the house, leaving two of the most important men in her life standing outside. She walked briskly into the kitchen, finding her mother standing at the stove, finishing the preparation of the dinner she was making.

"Mom!" Penny shouted and hugged her mother, who had just enough time to put down the pot she was holding.

"Penny? When did you get here?" Meryl asked her daughter.

"Just a few minutes ago. Leonard and I took a road trip together."

"Oh, that's so great that he came too. I finally get to meet him. But now, you can help me set the table."

"Mom, I just got here."

"And just in time too." Meryl grinned and handed Penny four sets of dishes, which she took and set on the table. Just as she was done, her father and Leonard walked into the kitchen, Wyatt pointing out a seat for Leonard to sit on.

"I made pasta for dinner. Luckily I planned to use the leftovers tomorrow for lunch, otherwise we wouldn't have enough for all of us." Meryl said and placed the pots on the table.

"Penny, how come you didn't call?" Wyatt asked. "The last time we spoke you said that it was unlikely that you could come."

"I wanted it to be a surprise. And Leonard borrowed the car outside from one of his colleagues. It's amazingly comfortable and has an outstanding gas-mileage ratio, so it wasn't as expensive as we thought when split into two."

"Although the drive itself was tiring, two days on the road really takes it out of you." Leonard added.

"Well, you're here now. For how long are you staying?"

"The entire next week." Penny said happily.

"We can go to a hotel if that's a bother." Leonard stated.

"Nonsense." Meryl admonished. "You both stay here in Penny's room."

"Wow, that's an unexpected offer, letting a guy stay in my room with me." Penny grinned.

"Slugger, you're a grown woman and we have kinda caught you in the act already, remember? Although luckily we only caught the opening teaser."

"Daddy!" Penny squeaked, her face going beet red while Leonard grinned.

"If you had kept quiet, you could have gotten snacks after ten minutes and then watched the main feature." Leonard quipped.

"Leonard!" Penny shouted, not believing her boyfriend's audacity in front of her parents. To her surprise, her father laughed out loud while her mother smiled knowingly.

"I like you son." Wyatt proclaimed. "I like it when someone shows the respect you are showing me but still has the guts to be so open with me."

"So, you two want to go out tonight, enjoy the Saturday night live of Omaha?" Meryl asked as she cleared the table.

"Actually, we're a bit tired from the drive. I thought we get settled and maybe watch a movie." Penny said.

"If you want to, no problem. Need any help with your luggage?" her mother asked.

"No, it's okay, we didn't pack that much. I was kinda hoping we could use your washing machine for our used clothes in a few days."

"Certainly."

Penny pulled Leonard outside to the car to get their luggage. Before they took it, Wyatt followed them and opened the gate, allowing Leonard to drive the car onto their property. When it was parked, he opened the back and took out their luggage, Penny's father taking some of the bags, freeing them of some of the load.

He led them to Penny's room and deposited the cases on the floor before letting her step inside, Leonard following her. Wyatt winked to Leonard and left them alone, an action that surprised him. Penny closed the door and pushed Leonard against the door, pressing her lips on his and pushing her tongue into his mouth. Before he could react, she pulled back again and jumped on her bed.

"So, this is my room."

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed." Leonard grinned and looked around. There were poster on the wall of boy bands of the nineties plus trophies for cheerleading and riding competitions on the shelves.

"Watch that sarcasm." she grinned and followed his gaze. "Yeah, I was pretty active in my youth. I was always very good at horseback riding."

"Oh, I know. I love it when you put that knowledge to good use in bed." he grinned while she stood up.

"You have a dirty mind, Doctor Hofstadter." she said and kissed him. "I like it."

She started a romantic movie and heard Leonard groan. She pulled him onto the bed and placed herself between his legs, her back against his chest and enjoyed the bodily contact. The movie ended way too soon for her while Leonard had barely managed to stay awake.

She went into her en suite bathroom and took a shower, washing the grit of the drive from her body. After drying off, she got ready for bed and changed places with Leonard. When she heard the shower run, she sneaked into the bathroom and stole his clothes, hiding them in her room and laying down on her stomach before putting the comforter over her.

The shower stopped and a minute later, she heard the sound of teeth being brushed, before her sweetie came back into the bedroom with a towel around his waist. She looked at him and involuntarily licked her lips, the sight of him in that towel doing things to her that the Penny that used to live here never thought possible. Usually her guys had visible abs but Leonard didn't and still the heat pooled between her legs in a speed so fast it was barely understandable to her.

"Did you take my clothes?" he asked with a pointed look.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." she replied innocently.

"Really?" he said and sat down on the bed, lifting and pushing away the comforter, finding her naked under it. "Are you sure this isn't an attempt at seducing me?"

"Don't you think if I wanted to seduce you, you'd be already groaning under me?" she grinned. "For now, my legs remain closed."

To underscore her point, she squeezed her legs together but Leonard simply ran his hand over her skin, spreading his fingers wide when he reached her ass. His fingers ran along her inner thighs and center, making Penny shiver but she kept her legs closed, hooking one ankle over the other.

Leonard discarded the towel and swung his right leg over hers, sitting down on her thighs. His hands went to her shoulder and started massaging them, his fingers digging into the muscles in an attempt to relax them. Penny straightened her arms to help him, hear head still turned to the left. She moaned as her muscles relaxed further and Leonard let his hands run down her back, his fingers continuing to press into her muscles.

"Mh, that feels good." she hummed and could almost feel him smile.

"I'm glad." he said and surprised her when he suddenly pushed his manhood into her to the hilt, his tip scraping over her g-spot.

"Holy crap, that felt even better." she squealed and started wiggling her ass to get more friction when he didn't move. He put his hands on her hips and stilled her movements, much to her chagrin, and resumed his massage, while his cock stayed buried deep inside her.

"Leonard, please move." she sighed and again attempted to cause friction which he again stilled.

"You said, you didn't want to. Therefore I don't see why I should move." he replied and Penny could imagine his smug smile.

"Leonard!" she admonished. "Please move."

Her pleading was almost enough to break him. He would never be able to resist her but this time he tried his best to stay strong. He kept up his massage while not moving his hips but fueled her desire even further by using his muscles to make his manhood twitch.

"Leonard, please." Penny begged and immediately cursed inwardly. He managed to make her beg again. It seemed to have worked because Leonard started moving slowly, pulling almost completely out before pushing back in, equally slowly.

"Faster please." she said but Leonard kept up his slow pace.

"You sure that you didn't want to seduce me by stealing my clothes and being naked in your bed?" he asked her.

"Pretty sure." she grinned.

"Very well then." Leonard sighed and stopped when just the tip remained inside her, his hand going to her hips to still any movement she might wanted to do.

"Leonard!"

"No attempt at seduction, no movement." he smiled, his hand gliding along her skin.

"Fine, yes, I stole your clothes so I could seduce you, happy now? Now please mo... oh my god!" Penny shouted when Leonard suddenly rammed his cock into her before pounding her in a rapid pace.

His hands went to her shoulders and held her tight, allowing him to penetrate deep into her without having her move on the bed whenever he thrust in. Her arms flailed aimlessly as if she couldn't decide whether to grab his legs to pull him deeper or his arms or something else while he kept pummeling her.

"Oh god! Yes! Yes! Yes! Right there!" she shouted into her pillow, mindful of her parents sleeping a few rooms further down the hall. Every syllable came out in time with a thrust, otherwise she wouldn't be able to get out a coherent sound.

She screamed into the fabric as her first orgasm crashed into her but Leonard didn't let up and kept pounding her through it, quickly bringing her to a second one which he let her ride out before resuming his punishing pace again. She managed to steadily breath for four minutes, enjoying every second of them when she felt her coils tighten again and heard Leonard's breathing change.

"Leonard!" "Penny!" both shouted each others names in unison when they climaxed together, with him spilling deep into her and collapsing on her back, holding her tight while he unloaded. Her hands quickly went to his, intertwining their fingers and simply holding him while he stayed buried inside her.

"That was so amazing." she panted when both had calmed down.

"It really was. I had sex with Penny in her room. Another fantasy crossed off." he grinned and kissed her.

"Any other fantasies we can fulfill while in Nebraska?" she asked laughing.

"Yeah, but I don't think your parents would lend us their bedroom."

"Are you kidding?"

"Of course I am. Now come on, lets get cleaned up." he said and stood up, pulling out of her while doing that.

"Do we have to? It was so comfortable just now."

"If we hurry, we can cuddle again." he said and moved towards the bathroom.

"Lets go!" she replied excitedly and followed him into the bathroom. He was quicker with his cleanup since it only required him to rub a piece of toilet paper around it while hers took a little longer.

When she returned, she found him lying in bed, shorts and shirt on, showing her that he had found them despite her having hid them. She put on some pajama shorts and a shirt of her own and went into bed with him, letting him wrap himself around her body the way she liked it. With a satisfied sigh, she quickly fell asleep.

Penny woke up the a big smile on her face, thanks to the activities on the previous evening. She was safely enveloped in Leonard's arms, his warmth seeping into her body. She had never told him and would never tell him but she had had the same fantasy of having sex with him in her room too. She turned her head and looked into his sleeping face.

God, how much she loved that man. She just needed to find a way to tell him without fearing that he wouldn't say it back or just say it to placate her. Also she didn't want to blurt it out in either during some argument or when she felt insecure because some other woman chased Leonard. But right now she tried to fight her bladder. She wanted to continue to lie in his arms but on the other hand, if she didn't move soon it could get very embarrassing.

With a groan, she pushed his arm off her and got up, heading into the bathroom with a yawn to relieve the pressure. After she returned, she found Leonard awake and smiling broadly, looking at her with loving eyes and an intensity that made her shiver. His left hand drew circles on the sheets and Penny was about to jump back into bed when someone knocked on her door.

"Penny, are you guys awake?" her mother called through the door, stopping her in her tracks.

"Yeah, just woke up." she replied back.

"Are you decent?"

"Yes, we are." Penny said and Meryl came into the room, grinning at Leonard who just waved.

"Breakfast is almost ready. Leonard, do you have any preferences?" Meryl asked.

"I have to avoid dairy products, otherwise I'm okay." Leonard replied.

"Great. Just be down in five minutes, the coffee will be done then." Meryl said and turned to leave but stopped. "Oh and don't worry, your father was asleep already last night when you screamed your names at each other."

"Mom!" Penny whined and dropped her head into her hands while Meryl left laughing.

"I'm so sorry." Penny said while Leonard kept grinning.

"It's okay. She seems to be okay with it. Now come on, lets get dressed and go down to breakfast." Leonard said and went into the bathroom himself to do his ablutions and wash up.

Exactly five minutes later, they were sitting at the table with Meryl putting a basket of buns on the table as Leonard poured himself and Penny a cup of coffee. They ate the breakfast mostly in silence, with only some idle conversation in between.

"So, what are you going to do today?" Meryl asked.

"I'm going to show him the city. But I think we will spend most of the week here at the farm, it's really too cold to enjoy the outside properly. Maybe I get a chance at Tornado." Penny proclaimed.

"Maybe. But be really careful around him, he's pretty wild." Wyatt said.

"Not to sound mean or ignorant but if he's that recalcitrant, why do you keep him?" Leonard asked.

"Because he's the most beautiful horse I have ever seen." Wyatt answered. "But during the last few weeks I think I learned why he's so stubborn. I think Thompson forgot to tell me that he used to be a rodeo horse once. After breakfast I will let him out to run."

They finished their breakfast and Meryl commanded Penny to help clean the table, in the same breath forbidding Leonard to help. Penny watched her father drag Leonard out of the room, wondering what kind of talk he would heap on her boyfriend.

"Mom, who else is coming to your birthday?" Penny asked.

"Well, you, Leonard, your aunt Lucy and uncle Mike, plus aunt Shelly and uncle Theo. That's about it."

"What about Bridget? I know Scott is in jail right now but I thought I was going to see my sister again."

"She's in Iowa right now. Her boss has a conference and as his assistant, she had to go."

"Aw, that's too bad."

"Yeah. But kind of good for you, you know what she would have done to Leonard."

"Come on, is she still like that? Leonard is the best guy I have ever met."

"I believe you. But you know how she is." Meryl said. "You love him, don't you?"

"Yes." she replied without hesitation. "I just need to figure out how to tell him. I want it to be special."

"No, you just want it to end in a night like the one you had yesterday." Meryl winked as Penny blushed hard.

"Mom, please, if you keep talking about my sex life, I will take Leonard and go back to Pasadena."

"Relax, we're done anyway. No go be with your boyfriend." Meryl said and Penny hurried out of the kitchen.

She found both of them them in the living room, her father regaling him with tales about her childhood, making Leonard laugh. With horror, she noticed the photo album with her baby and childhood pictures on Leonard's lap.

"Daddy. Embarrassing me already?" Penny admonished and sat down sideways on Leonard's lap.

"Relax Penny." Leonard said. "You were a cute kid?"

"Were?" she asked, raising her eyebrow. "Am I not anymore?"

"No. Now you are an extraordinarily beautiful woman."

"Uh, nice save." she said happily and kissed him.

"Okay, you two." Wyatt started. "I have to go out now to feed the animals. Have fun in the city."

"We will, dad." Penny said to her father as he left the room. "Come on, sweetie."

They went back to her room and got some warm clothes from their luggage before they went out to their car after Penny had given her mom a heads-up that they were leaving. As they were driving down the road, Leonard turned to Penny.

"By the way, did your friends ever reply to that picture you sent them?"

"Oh, I never checked my phone since Denver." Penny admitted and got it out of her purse, unlocking the screen and finding several messages from both Cheryl and Kim. "Wow, they were quite inventive with some of the terms."

"Why, what did they say?"

"Well, the first reply to the picture was a collection of emoticons, mostly in the devilish range. The rest are threats to me about taking you away from me but they are combined with smileys, so I know they don't mean it. And the last ones... never mind."

"Why, what's in them?" he asked and Penny sighed, unsure if she should read them aloud. "Come on, tell me."

"Fine. They say, and I quote "Tell Leonard, we can do that for him too, even longer and deeper, if he's willing to let us". They are really jealous."

"Well, write them back that I'm willing." he grinned.

"WHAT?"

"To do that only with Penny." he finished.

"You are mean." she pouted.

"Punish me." he poked out his tongue.

"Oh, I intend to. But maybe not here in Nebraska with my parents thirty feet away."

"Point taken. Okay, where to?"

Penny gave Leonard some directions and made him stop at a shopping mall. She excitedly got out of the car and almost pulled him into the building, pointing out the stores she wanted to go in to, which where, to his lack of surprise, exclusively clothing or shoe stores.

As he had predicted before they had reached Denver, she went shopping while he was her bag holder, standing outside the changing rooms waiting for her to present herself in yet another item of clothing that she usually dismissed outright. He did enjoy the third store they went into because the changing rooms were big enough for him to wait inside of, a fact she used to indulge him not only by changing slowly but also by picking out and trying on several pairs of underwear.

After buying a g-string whose fabric seemed to have less mass than a postage stamp, they went to a Chinese restaurant that set up shop on the fourth floor of the mall. As they were sitting at the table and eating their food, Leonard saw a guy approaching them.

"Penny!" the man said, greeting her with a smile.

"Tony? Is that you?" Penny asked the guy, shaking his hand.

"Yeah. Haven't seen you since high school, what are you doing here?"

"'It's my mom's birthday this week." she explained.

"Hey, you want to meet up later, you know, for old times sake?" Tony asked and Penny could imagine what old times he was alluding to.

"Tony, this is my boyfriend Leonard." Penny said pointedly, emphasizing the word boyfriend.

"Hi there." Tony said and shook Leonard's hand. "Oh... oh, no no, the old times sake wasn't meant like you thought. I'm married now." he continued, showing her the ring.

"That's nice. To Tracy?" she asked.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Do you think it was a secret that you have been pining for her in high school? It was a recurrent topic during our slumber parties and girls nights."

"I wasn't that obvious."

"You would think. But it was kinda funny to watch you make your attempts for her affections."

"Hey, it worked out in the end."

"Congratulations. But I don't think I have the time. I get to spend way too little time with my parents anyway and it's her birthday on Wednesday."

"I understand."

"Tell her hi from me, okay?"

"Will do. Bye Penny." Tony said and left.

"So, I guess you went out with him in high school." Leonard stated.

"Only once." she confirmed.

"And you had sex with him." he stated again, not asking a question.

"Yes." she admitted, embarrassment audible.

"Ah well, we all have our pasts." he shrugged.

"What, is there a bunch of women out there who are reminiscing about sex with the mighty stud called Leonard?" she grinned.

"Not that many. There's Joyce Kim, Nancy who was a freshman at CalTech which she chose not to mention when we went out and Priya of course. Leslie you already know."

"Who is Priya? That sound's Asian."

"She's Raj's sister."

"Wait a second. You slept with Raj's sister?" she asked shocked.

"Only three times. And it was before you and I met. Sometimes when she's in the area during a layover, we would meet up for the night. But I haven't seen her in years. I don't even have her phone number."

"Relax. I'm not going to bite your head off because you had other women before me."

"Well, I'm more worried that you bite a smaller piece of my body off." he admitted, which made Penny laugh.

"Your buddy is safe, I need that thing to be attached to you for maximum effect."

They finished their meal with more idle conversation and Penny was again marveled at the fact how fast time flew by when she was with Leonard. If her feet hadn't been enclosed in tight boots, she would have run her foot over his leg all the time but still, she was immensely glad to be sitting here with him.

The entire trip had been a blast so far, just being with him in the car had been a great time, even though one of them had been sleeping most of the time. She would gladly spend an entire day in bed with him, even without sex, just lying in his arms was enough to make her happy. But that he had gone to the trouble to take a week off and getting this car just to enable her to spend her mother's birthday with her mother instead of just congratulating over the phone was another indicator that he was the last boyfriend she would ever have.

Even if they would break up, something she would fight tooth and nail to prevent, there wasn't a man left on earth who could make her feel the same way Leonard did. His mixture of generosity, kindness, shyness and his amazing ability in bed made him a combination that could hardly be duplicated in another man.

Penny dragged him to the nearest shoe store and started to try on shoes, something Leonard got extremely bored of when she paraded the twentieth pair in front of him. She was currently looking at a particularly gorgeous pair of boots when she noticed Leonard doing something on his laptop to which he had attached some sort of black flat thing which she assumed was an external hard drive.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"Oh, I'm doing some work for my next sets of experiments. I thought, having a few papers to do while you shop for shoes was a good idea."

"Was that a hidden remark on my desire for shopping for shoes?" she asked.

"Yes." he said, poking out his tongue.

"Come on, it's not that bad."

"Penny, it's five in the afternoon. You have been trying on shoes for three hours straight."

"Say what?" she squealed. "Oh my god, why didn't you tell me."

"You looked so happy."

"Leonard, I didn't want to spend the entire day in a mall."

"It's okay, we're here for the entire week, remember?" Leonard calmed her.

"Come on, lets go." Penny said but still grabbed one of the two pairs of shoes she had put on her greed pile, using a coin to choose between them. She really wanted the boots but they were extremely expensive, not to mention that she already had the one pair at home that Leonard had bought for her.

They returned to the car and drove back to the house, with Penny giddily swapping pictures of her new shoes with Cheryl and Kim while Leonard was behind the wheel. All was well until Penny suddenly let out a string of curses.

"What's wrong?" Leonard asked her as he drove onto the property of her parents and under the car port.

"I accidentally sent out a few of the pictures we have taken of each other together." she admitted.

"And?"

"Well, it's in some certain positions..."

"Oh oh. Which ones?" he repeated

She showed him the pictures and he coughed as he remembered the night they had taken them. The first picture showed Leonard sitting against the headboard and Penny almost doing the splits while his mouth was pressed between her legs. Another picture showed her in the process of blowing him with half his manhood inside her and visible joy in her eyes.

The rest of the pictures were of them in various sexual positions but nothing that the other two girls hadn't seen before in the videos they had stolen. Despite the fact that they now had a camcorder which to record their nightly activities on, they still used their phones to snap the occasional picture.

Leonard helped Penny bring her shopping bags inside, getting a knowing look and smile from Wyatt. After they had stored them in Penny's room, both came back down and went into the living room where Wyatt had made himself comfortable on the couch.

"Tornado is back in his stable, clean and tired." he proclaimed.

"Sorry, time flew by while we were out." Penny apologized.

"No problem. It's not like you're leaving tomorrow." Wyatt said. "Speaking of which, whatever you have planned for tomorrow is probably off the table."

"Why?" Penny asked. Instead of answering, Wyatt pointed at the TV where a weather report was currently airing, announcing the arrival of a storm system with heavy rainfall and biting wind during the night which would last the entire next day. "Great. So we basically can only sit around the house."

"Will be a nice change of pace." Leonard said. "I have always been against forcing yourself to do something, just because you are away from home."

"Yeah, listen to him, sweetheart." Wyatt agreed. "You have your own fireplace in your room, enjoy it. I'll bring you some coal later so you have some embers during the night and Leonard can get some wood."

"Actually, that's an amazing idea, daddy." Penny agreed as Meryl called them to dinner.

They sat down around the table, enjoying a healthy portion of lentil stew Meryl had made using her pressure cooker. More idle conversation flew by with Penny telling them about Tony while Leonard tried to explain some of his work to her parents, with varying lack of success.

Penny bid her parents good night and pulled Leonard with her into her room. Just as he promised, Wyatt got Leonard and made him fetch some firewood while he brought up a few lumps of coal for her fireplace. Not knowing what else to do with a storm on its way, they decided to make a movie night. To get ready for bed, Penny went into her bathroom to take a shower.

After she was done, she came back out and saw Leonard working at her TV, proudly proclaiming to have managed to hook his laptop up to her TV so they could watch the movies he had saved on it on her bigger screen. While he showered, she went back down and grabbed several bags of snacks and drinks, taking them upstairs with her.

Leonard was still in the bathroom, probably drying himself off so Penny went to his laptop and scrolled through the movies he had on there. Every Japanese animated movie was already off the table and the rest were mostly science fiction or fantasy. Not wanting to watch Star Wars or Star Trek, she chose the first Lord of the Rings movie in its extended version.

She started the movie and put it on pause, waiting for Leonard to return while she took off her pants and went into the bed. It took only another minute and soon enough Leonard exited her bathroom, the sound of her toilet flushing telling her what he did after the shower. She emptied a bag of chips into a bowl and placed a six-pack of drinks on her nightstand.

"You want to start a fire now?" Leonard asked her.

"No, lets snuggle under the blanket. We can start it tomorrow."

"Alright. What are we watching?"

"Lord of the Rings. The first one."

"Really?" he asked happily.

"Yeah. Would it kill you to have some Jennifer Aniston movies on there?"

"Yeah, it would. I'd rather have a naked picture of Howard's mom tattooed on the inside of my eyelids."

"Don't exaggerate. They are not that bad."

Laughing, Leonard attached the receiver to his wireless mouse to the laptop and grabbed the remote to control both appliances without the need to get up. He got into her bed where Penny made room for him to lean against the headboard so she could place her head on his chest. Leonard started the movie and the room was filled with the sound of Galadriel recounting the history of the ring. She took a deep breath snuggled deeper into his embrace.

After two hours, she had trouble keeping her eyes open. The combination of a movie that was undoubtedly great but not so much her favorite topic, her full stomach and the presence of the man she loved in her arms lulled her further and further away from being awake. She decided that it wouldn't be so bad just to rest her eyes for a minute.

When she was done resting her eyes and reopened them, it was dark in the room. As she wondered what had made her open her eyes, the rumble of thunder in the distance told her enough and she became aware of the sound of rain hitting her window. She lifted her head and tried to find her phone, finding it on the nightstand before checking the clock.

It was after two in the morning. Apparently she had fallen asleep during the movie and Leonard had simply shut off the laptop and TV and then the light without waking her. While she was grateful for that, she also was a bit miffed since she now desperately needed to pee. She swung her legs over him to get out of the bed just as a bolt of lightning illuminated the room and shuffled into the bathroom, relieving herself and brushing her teeth before washing up a bit.

When she returned to the bedroom, she saw Leonard sitting on the foot of the bed, closing the laptop and putting his wireless mouse on top of it. She knelt down behind him and kissed him on the neck.

"Did I wake you?" she asked him.

"Yes, but it's okay. I need to use the bathroom anyway. And frankly, there are a lot of worse things to wake up to then with what your panties are covering close to my eyes." he replied with a smile as he got up to go into the bathroom himself.

When Leonard returned, he found her kneeling of the bed, waiting for him. He could only see her silhouette with the comforter draped around her shoulders and not thinking anything of it, he laid back down on the bed, expecting her to resume her place by cuddling back into him. She did as he thought and placed her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arm and leg around his body. Her head lifted up to his and she looked at him with adoring eyes.

"Leonard, thank you for bringing me here this week." she said and her hand went to the side of his face.

"You're very welcome." he replied and looked down at her.

She pushed her body up a few inches and captured his lips with hers. For a few seconds the kiss stayed chaste before his tongue begged for entrance which she immediately granted. They kept kissing for several minutes before she broke the kiss and put her head back on his chest. While she wouldn't have objected to some more sex, she was quite tired and after only a few seconds of listening to his heartbeat, she fell back asleep.

When Penny woke up the next day, she was alone in her bed. She looked around, the room illuminated by daylight although the weather outside was as bad as the news report the day before had announced. She did her bathroom routine and walked downstairs, finding her mother sitting on the couch in the living room, reading a book.

"Look who fell out of bed." Meryl said to her daughter.

"Where's Leonard?" Penny asked.

"Good morning to you too. Your father dragged him into the garage to ask him about something that has to do with physics. And he let Leonard drive the tractor."

"Really?" Penny laughed. "Are all the fences still standing?"

"I haven't heard anything crash." her mother replied. "But since you are well rested now, you can peel the potatoes for lunch."

"Mom! This is supposed to be a vacation." Penny whined.

"Not here it's not. Now get going, missy, we're having steak." Meryl ordered and Penny complied after learning that they would be eating the one type of red meat she loved. As she was busy peeling, she heard the door open and her father and Leonard entered the house. She cocked her ears to listen what they were talking about.

"I'm telling you, he's lying to you." she heard Leonard argue.

"I have known him for half my life, why would he lie?" her father shot back, making Penny wonder what they were arguing about.

"Who knows? But you can drop your energy bill to almost zero if you install a geothermal heat pump and combine it with solar panels."

"How would that work?"

"They drill three holes into the earth between fifty and four hundred feet. The temperature down there is stable no matter the air temperature due to thermal inertia. Therefore you can use it to heat your house and any other structure to a stable temperature of about fifty to sixty-eight degrees."

"Really?" she heard her father say and even Penny was surprised. The two men came into the kitchen for some refreshment and Penny flashed a brilliant smile to Leonard, which he returned before bringing his attention back to Wyatt.

"Yes. And since the system also works in the summer and keeps the temperature on that level, you can save yourself an air conditioner. If the temperature in the winter is too cold for you, you still have your fireplaces."

"But isn't that expensive machinery?"

"To a point. You get a thirty percent tax credit when you install it. It takes between five and ten years for it to pay for itself and from then on you basically save money because you don't have any heating bills."

"What about the electricity costs for this pump?" her father objected.

"Negligible, since you already have a pump running almost constantly because of your well. You simply install an extra pipe. Also, since you use water exclusively instead of propane or oil or natural gas, there is no danger of combustion or flames or fumes or carbon monoxide leaks."

"Alright, alright." Wyatt said and lifted his arms in surrender. "You made your point. Next week I will talk to a friend about a system like this. You certainly made some really good points."

"The initial hurdle is primarily the money you need. And getting the permits but that shouldn't be that hard because it's your property and it doesn't affect anyone due to the vertical drilling."

"Enough talk you two." Meryl interrupted when she stepped into the kitchen and turned to Wyatt. "We're cooking lunch now and then Leonard and Penny can spend their day in front of her fireplace as you suggested."

When the men were gone, Penny put water into the pot with the potatoes and set them on the stove. She then prepared the large pan that they needed for the stakes and her mouth watered when she saw the four big slabs of meat. She shook her head at herself for being a vegetarian but still feel the hankering for a big steak, especially when her mother made them.

When the steaks were in the pan, sizzling away, she went to her room to get dressed in some more casual clothes. On her way to the stairs, she saw Leonard and her father sitting at the living room table, playing cards and going by her fathers hand movements and Leonard's smile, whatever they were playing, Leonard was winning.

"So, what will you do today in this weather?" Wyatt asked after they were done eating.

"What you suggested." Penny replied. "Get a fire going in my fireplace and watch TV. Leonard has quite the selection on his laptop."

"No funny business!" Wyatt ordered.

"Oh, I don't have that many comedies on there. It's more science fiction and fantasy."

"Not what I meant."

"I know." Leonard grinned. "But we don't usually laugh during THAT business."

Penny's mouth dropped when Leonard said that but she was even more astonished when her father laughed as well. He was never this cool to anyone she went out with, the thought of his little girl being a grown woman and doing what grown women did always grating on him.

"At least keep the decibel level low." Wyatt muttered.

"Daddy!" Penny spoke up.

"Relax sweetheart. We caught you in the opening act, remember?"

"This is not happening." Penny muttered with her head in her hands while her father laughed again.

Before either of them could embarrass her any further, Penny pulled Leonard to her room. As her father had suggested, she put some lumps of coal into the fireplace and covered them with wood before she got the fire going, letting it spread a comforting warmth through the room.

They moved the couch closer to the fireplace, two foot rests in front of it and the TV to the correct angle. Despite her lack of interest in fantasy or science fiction, she wanted to know how the story went on. Also, Orlando Bloom was hot. They sat down on the couch and Penny threw a blanket over them as they stretched out.

Partway through the second movie, they both did a bathroom break but after Leonard had sat down again, she decided she wanted more bodily contact with him and sat down on his lap, her back leaning against his chest. After she stretched her legs out again, her weight was pressed down exactly where she wanted it to be and she started to wiggle her ass on him to get a reaction which wasn't long in coming.

His hands went around her waist and stilled her for the moment, confusing her. She started her own movement again but once more he stopped her from letting it go further. With a frown, she turned his head towards him.

"Leonard? Is something wrong?"

"Not really, why?"

"Because you stop me from moving."

"Yeah, I want to prevent myself from taking you right here and now."

"Why would you want to prevent that? I was kinda hoping for it? You're already hard and big, so why not use it?" she asked him.

"Because as much as I love having sex with you as often as possible, I'd rather not do it when you parents could either knock on your door or come in directly. It's different at night when they are asleep but right now..."

"Oh, yeah that would be weird. Although mom heard us when we did it on Sunday. Or rather, she heard our big finish."

"Oh no, really?"

"Relax, she was cool about it. And it's your fault they heard us."

"Why mine?" he asked.

"Because you are so fucking good in bed that I can't keep quiet."

"You managed it well at the beginning."

"I was screaming into the pillow!" she said exasperated and Leonard broke out into a smug grin. "And watch that grin."

"Why? I'm proud of that."

"Yeah, well, have you any idea what kind of looks I get from the old lady who lives in the apartment below mine?"

"Longing and envy?"

"No, smirks and condemnation."

"My version sounds better." he smirked. "But if you really want, I can pleasure you as much as you want tonight."

"If I really want? Leonard, I want it right now. But remember, you need to be the active part, I can't ride you."

"Why not?" he pouted.

"Because I need something in my face to muffle the sounds."

"You managed well when we did it in my bedroom after your Halloween party."

"That was way too hard to do to repeat it."

They stopped talking and went back to watching the movie. As it started to reach its climax, Leonard's hands, that were still on her stomach, went under her shirt and started rubbing small circles on her skin. On its downward path, the little finger of his right hand skimmed under both her sweatpants and her panties, making her unable to stop gyrating slightly to meet the movement and get it where she wanted. As an added bonus, she felt Leonard getting hard again and pressed herself down even harder.

"God dammit." Leonard cursed and pushed her forward before fumbling with his pants. Penny wondered what he was doing and was surprised when he pulled her back up and quickly pushed down her pants and panties in one swoop before he grabbed between them and pushed his erection into her, their position allowing him to go in to the hilt, using his hands to press her down as hard as possible.

"Oh god!" Penny squealed at the sudden contact before she relaxed into it. Staying in her position, she allowed Leonard to move her body with his hands, the penetration deeper than ever before. She really had to remember this position for later use. Her grinding allowed him to constantly stimulate her g-spot and as the Rohirrim on screen drove away the Uruk-hai, she felt the coil tighten in that familiar manner that announced an impending release of endorphins. Yet, Leonard's initial reluctance proved to be wise when suddenly her door opened after two quick knocks.

"Hey slugger, you mother asks if you two want some coffee. And she could need your help in the kitchen." her father said to her after taking a step inside and seeing them both sitting completely still on the couch under the blanket, their gazes glued to the TV.

"Yeah, I'll come down after the movie is over." she managed to say in a normal fashion.

"It's only a few more minutes." Leonard added, also with great difficulty keeping his voice even.

"Okay, see you then." Wyatt said and left the room, clueless as to what he walked into.

"Holy crap on a cracker!" Penny cursed and got up, pulling up her panties and pants before smoothing her sweater.

"Yeah." Leonard said and took deep breaths while Penny watched his erection receding quickly, the shock of her father interrupting them equal to a bucket of ice water.

After they were decent enough, they went down and had some coffee with her parents, with Leonard almost inhaling the poppy seed pie her mom had placed on the table. When they were done, Penny stayed down and helped her mother prepare the pies for her birthday the next day while both Wyatt and Leonard excused themselves. She desperately hoped that the evening would come quickly so she could finish what they had started before.

When Penny woke up on Wednesday morning, she couldn't stop smiling. After she had been done helping her mother and eating dinner, she had again retreated to her room to find Leonard at his laptop, working on something. Since the weather was still against doing anything outside, they had snuggled back on the couch to watch Love Happens, which Leonard had added to his Netflix account, making Penny happy that he now had at least one Jennifer Aniston movie available to watch.

After the sky had gone dark, they had doused the fire, the embers giving off a great amount of residual warmth, and moved into her bed, where he made her watch one of the Star Trek movies and gave her a running commentary about how great it would be to have an energy shield.

She had barely heard a word, her concentration completely used up by his hand running over her bare ass under her pajama shorts, squeezing it every time it reached its nadir. When she couldn't take it anymore, she had grabbed the remote and shut off the TV and made him keep his promise from before to pleasure her as much as she wanted.

She had held him to his word by getting comfortable on his face, letting his tongue bring her to orgasm several times, his ministrations making her efforts to keep quiet a real chore. After her fourth orgasm, she had turned around, doing the sixty-nine position for several minutes, enjoying his tongue while she got to show him how much fun it was for her to return the favor.

True to her word, she had let him take the active part, her mouth always in contact with something to muffle her screams of pleasure. After getting mercilessly pounded from behind like on Sunday night, they finished in the missionary position, his mouth covering hers while she screamed out her climax before she took him with her.

Now it was Wednesday and their trip was halfway over. Today was the day her mother had her birthday and she would see her aunts and uncles again. Yet she didn't want to get out of the bed, out of Leonard's arms. But as it has before, her bladder made it a battle she would lose every time and with great reluctance she extricated herself from his arms to do her morning routine.

After returning, she found Leonard awake again, the low comforter revealing his chest where she had left some bite marks in the previous night. He once more had a big smile on his face, an expression she couldn't prevent from mirroring.

"So, were your expectations fulfilled last night?" he asked.

"Yeah, more than fulfilled. Excelled in fact. I'm always amazed how you can do me for so long but also be done in five minutes if you want."

"I always think about how great you look or how amazing you feel when you climax. Although you feel amazing all the time."

Smiling, Penny went back onto the bed and laid down on him, their naked bodies touching from top to bottom. She pressed her lips on his and sighed into it, the satisfaction evident in her tone. She could feel his manhood hardening again and grinned in anticipation when her door suddenly opened.

"Oh dear." her mother screamed and quickly turned around and left the room, leaving Leonard and Penny scrambling for some clothes.

"Mom! Haven't you heard of knocking?" Penny shouted

"It's my house, remember?" Meryl replied. "Are you decent now?"

"Yes, come in." Penny said when she and Leonard were dressed in some casual clothes again.

"I wanted to get you so you can help me fix lunch. The others are arriving soon." her mother told her.

"Fix lunch? What time is it?" Penny asked surprised.

"It's after eleven. I guess you stayed up late last night." Meryl said, making Leonard cough and Penny blush at the memories of last night.

"Let me get dressed." she said dejected as her mother left the room before she turned to Leonard. "I am so sorry."

"It's okay. Gives you the chance to make it up to me next time." he grinned.

"Did you just ask me for a blowjob?"

"No, but that's a good idea." he grinned and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Penny smiling as she went downstairs to help her mother.

It was less than an hour later when her relatives arrived, greeting her with enthusiasm while warmly welcoming Leonard into the family. Penny had to suppress tears when she saw her aunts hugging Leonard and made him feel so comfortable. She also smiled at the wording of her relatives and it felt so right that they saw him as family because she vowed that one day they would stand here in this room with matching rings on their fingers.

While they were eating, Leonard got into a discussion with her uncle Mike and she remembered that Mike was a physics teacher in a local high school. She couldn't stop a laugh when Mike tried to impress Leonard with his knowledge only to have it thrown back at him when Leonard talked about his experiments, leaving Mike dumbstruck before they got into a discussion about the intricacies of thermodynamics in an urban environment to which Penny zoned out.

When they were done eating, the women cleaned the table, her aunts and mother gossiping about some neighbor of theirs while her dad and uncle Theo talked about football. Leonard and uncle Mike were still busy with their discussion, even missing that their plates were removed from under their noses.

While Leonard and Mike continued their discussion, having moved to the application of high energy lasers, Penny was dragged into the living room by her aunts and compelled to recount, in minute detail, how she met Leonard. She told them all, omitting the parts that they shouldn't hear, making them tear up when she told them about the weekend when they became steady.

She showed them some of the pictures of them on her phone, the one in the folder she marked as chaste enough to be viewed by everyone. But before her aunts could ask any further questions, her father saved her by telling the group that it was almost time for the afternoon coffee, surprising Penny that so much time had already passed again.

As the group was sitting in the living room, Penny watched her mom opening the presents of her aunts. That's when the uncomfortable and surprising fact hit her that she had totally forgotten to buy her mom a birthday present.

"Our present is still upstairs, I'll go get it." Leonard said, getting a look from Penny.

"I'll go with you." she said and followed him upstairs and into her room. She watched him as he grabbed a wonderfully wrapped gift from one of his bags.

"What the hell? When did you buy my mom a present?"

"When you were in that shoe store. I went out, bought this and came back."

"I didn't even realize that you had gone out."

"I kinda got that when you didn't comment on it." he grinned and led her back downstairs. "Here. This is from Penny and me." Leonard said, making Penny feel a bit guilty since she didn't even know what he got for her mother.

She watched her mother unwrap the present with delicate movements. She knew her mother was one of those people who didn't want to tear wrapping paper. When she reached the box inside, Penny's curiosity grew and she was a bit confused when her mother pulled something that looked like a picture frame out of the box.

"Thank you." Meryl said. "What is it? A very small TV?"

"No." Leonard laughed. "It's a digital picture frame. Here, let me show you."

Leonard took the frame to plug it into a socket and placed it on the cabinet. He pressed a button and the frame showed a picture of a young Penny posing for the camera. After a few seconds, the picture changed to a laughing Penny on a horse. Another few seconds later, it changed again, this time one of Penny with her parents, a horseback riding trophy in her hands while her parents looked on proud.

"That is such a great gift. Thank you so much." a teary Meryl said and hugged both Penny and Leonard.

"You can put any picture on there that you want as long as you have it in digital form. We used all the pictures Penny had and they change every five seconds. You can increase the speed that they change with by pressing the plus button and slow them down with the minus button. And there's a stop button in the middle, if you want a certain picture to stay visible. The two buttons on the top let you scroll through the pictures manually." Leonard explained, making Penny uneasy at the use of the word 'We' when he had been the one doing it alone.

Even Penny couldn't suppress a tear from falling. That gift really was extraordinarily thoughtful and her love for that man multiplied exponentially. She just had to find a way to tell him, as soon as possible. After everyone had calmed down, they resumed their conversation and Penny used the opportunity to pull Leonard away.

"How did you get all those pictures on there?" she asked. "You told my mother that you used all the pictures I have but since you bought it only two days ago, we know that's not true."

"I did it yesterday when you were helping your mom with the pies. I used the photo albums your dad showed me and digitized every picture I could find."

"You did all that in three hours? How?"

"I took pictures of your pictures with my phone, highest resolution, cut out the black edges and they were done."

"Holy crap, you're amazing."

"Thank you. I'm glad she likes it."

"Are you kidding? I've never seen her cry after getting a gift. I think you're safe now, even if they do catch us having sex."

"Good to know." he grinned.

An hour later, her relatives bid their goodbyes, leaving them in the house. They used the leftovers from lunch for dinner and after watching a movie in the living room, Penny dragged Leonard back into her room, the knowing smile of her mother following her upstairs.

That night, Penny showed him her appreciation by proving him once again how much she had learned in terms of pleasing him with her mouth before making the sacrifice of staying quiet while riding him hard until he couldn't hold it in anymore.

Thursday began like the other days, with them wrapped naked around each other, since the warmth from the fireplace turned their sleeping garments into annoying pieces of fabric. She felt sore all over her body and had that delicious ache between her legs, telling her about the amazing night she had had. Even now, she could feel his morning erection poking her but as much as she wanted to indulge him, she simply couldn't after last night.

She hadn't let him go to sleep for a while. After riding him to oblivion, she had kept him awake by kissing him until she felt him get ready again, something she had helped along by blowing him hard until ordering him to mount her. She had repeated that twice more until three in the morning, when she herself had been so exhausted that she had fallen asleep while trying to get him ready for round number five.

"Good morning." he mumbled and moved against her, causing her to shiver.

"Hey stud." she grinned. "Looks like you're ready again."

"If you're offering yourself, sure."

"Sorry sweetie, I'm really aching down there."

"Oh, I'm sorry." he said, concern evident.

"Nonsense, it's the best kind of ache. I can't believe how much you exhausted me."

"Yeah, that was a fun to watch when you fell asleep." Leonard said and showed her his phone. She looked at the screen and saw the picture of herself asleep on his crotch, his semi-erect manhood partially in her mouth, making her blush.

"Oh god, I thought I dreamed that."

"No, that happened. Was a little bit disappointing and a lot hilarious."

"I know of a way to remedy the disappointment part." she purred and grabbed his manhood, stroking him until she felt him grow even harder.

"Penny, you don't have to do that." he said but still inhaled deeply and closed his eyes.

"I know." she replied and slid down his body until her head was over his crotch again.

She didn't waste any time and took him in, the familiar feeling of his manhood inside her mouth giving her pleasure beyond her own understanding. She wrapped her fingers around the base and started bobbing her head up and down, using her tongue to run along its length and letting it swirl around the tip.

Leonard for his part couldn't believe the transformation his girlfriend had done in the past few months. After they had met, it had taken almost three months until she had first blown him as part of foreplay when she had spent the night in his bed after her Halloween party. From then on, it became a more regular occurrence during foreplay but it had taken the combination of his birthday and mother nature's interference to make her blow him to climax for the first time.

She had told him then that it would be a very rare event and it was true, at least until that fateful week of her period, if one excluded the drunken incident. From then on, it had become a monthly event but she still did it with the goal of longer sex a day later.

But here she was, her head descending on his little buddy with a delight that belied her earlier reservations. While her mouth was incapable of doing it, her cheekbones and eyes told him that she was smiling as she sucked and quietly moaned. If Penny hadn't locked the door the night before, he might have stopped her.

Penny started to deepthroat him with every downward movement, her lips clamping down on his base and her tongue poked out to lick at the area between his balls while she stayed down as long as she could. Suddenly, her hunch paid off when suddenly someone knocked at her door again before attempting to open the door. That's when Penny did something that made him almost lose it right then and there. She groaned and the vibrations that it caused to his tip that was touching her throat felt so amazing, it was unbelievable.

"Penny?" her mother called through the door, her surprise at the locked door evident.

"What mom?" Penny shouted back after releasing him with a plop, while her hand kept stroking him.

"Are you decent?"

"The door is locked, what do you think?"

"Just wanted to tell you that lunch is almost ready. Ten minutes."

"We'll be there." Penny said and Leonard heard her mother go back down the stairs. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay." Leonard replied and expected Penny to get up.

To his surprise, she simply shook her head at her mother's behavior and opened her mouth to take him into her mouth again, resuming her deep and fast movements. He was amazed at how cool she was about the fact that her mother had more or less interrupted them but here she was, smiling with her eyes while she blew him.

Since they had only a short time left, she increased her speed and used her hand to stroke him in sync with her head movement. He felt his climax coming on, his hips moving against her on their own volition. Having learned enough about him, she knew the signs and lifted her head, keeping the tip inside her as he unloaded into her with a loud groan.

She waited until he was done and then quickly got up to run into her bathroom and spit his spill into her sink. He followed her on shaky legs and both freshened up before getting dressed and heading down to the kitchen, getting a knowing look with raised eyebrows from her mother while her father was clueless.

"There you two are." Wyatt said as they entered. "It seems you spend most of your time here sleeping."

"Movie night went longer than expected." Penny replied as explanation.

"You didn't miss much, there was a downpour this morning, which would have kept you inside anyway." Wyatt added.

"Is there a reason that the reception is so bad in here?" Leonard asked, holding his phone.

"Yeah, we have a small vein of some metallic ore running below our property. Not enough for anyone to start mining it but its proximity to the surface is causing all kinds of havoc to wireless connections. That's why we use land lines for phones and internet. You need to be on the north side of it to get an acceptable reception, it's the highest point."

"Okay thanks. I will try after lunch."

"Who do you need to call?"

"I have several missed calls. Sheldon, Sheldon again, Professor Brinkman, Sheldon again, Frank and Sheldon again."

Meryl placed the lasagna on the table and the group started eating. Penny watched the others and smiled to herself at the domesticity of the scene. Her family had completely accepted Leonard, with her mother even cool with catching them in very intimate situations. As soon as they were done eating, her father and Leonard excused themselves for some tasks while her mother held her back to prevent her from leaving.

Meryl pointed to the sink and with a grumble, Penny went to work, rinsing the pots and pants while Meryl cleaned the kitchen. While she washed and dried the dishes, she saw Leonard walking north on her parents' property, trying to find a good place for reception. He went into the empty area where her father lets the animals graze in the summer and his posture changed into one of a person who was talking on his cellphone so it seemed that he had finally found a place with enough reception.

It took her twenty minutes to finish washing the dishes, some of the dishes hard to clean since they were sitting in the sink since the birthday party. She excused herself and went into the hallway just as her father reentered the house.

"Hey dad. Everything okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah. Just let Tornado out to run. Because of this mornings downpour he was even more agitated than usual."

"Wait, didn't you say he charges at anyone he sees?"

"Yeah, although I'm amazed that he stops at the fence, even though he could jump right over it. Why do you ask?"

"Dad! Leonard is on the field because he wanted to call someone, remember?" Penny asked and quickly put on some rubber boots that were standing next to the door, ignoring a jacket in her worry. She heard her father curse and follow her but Penny heeded him no mind as she ran towards to the cow pasture where his father let the horse run on every day that it was possible.

"LEONARD!" she shouted as loud as she could when she reached the wooden fence and saw her boyfriend standing on top of the gentle slop, pocketing his phone, just as her father draped a jacket over her.

Leonard didn't seem to realize the situation he was in because he started to walk nonchalantly towards them. Penny pointed frantically behind him until he finally turned around to look at what she was pointing at. Penny watched him get still and everything went into slow motion as Tornado charged at the man she loved. She screamed and attempted to climb over the fence, the rain-slick wood making it hard to climb.

Then something happened that stupefied both of them. The wild horse charging at Leonard slowed down his charge until it became a slow trot and stopped right in front of him. Leonard extended his arm and ran his hand over the horse's head, the animal lowering it to give him better access.

"I don't believe it!" Penny exclaimed and her father agreed. Both went slowly into the pasture as to not to spook the horse. When they got closer, they heard it whinny gently and nudging its head against Leonard.

"Leonard." her father said, awe in his voice. "I didn't know you were so good with horses."

"I'm really not. I have ridden one once." Leonard replied.

"Actually, he's a decent rider, we rode out once when we took a weekend trip." Penny threw in.

"Want to try with him Leonard? Maybe he'll let you saddle him." Wyatt suggested.

"Worth a try." Leonard agreed.

He walked slowly towards the stable, Tornado following him loyally. Following Wyatt's instructions, Leonard put the saddle on the back of the horse, the whole group astonished at its sudden change in behavior, especially when Tornado didn't even react slightly when Leonard put on the bridle.

Penny walked closer to them and Tornado shied away a bit until Leonard held him tight, leading him closer to her. Timidly, she put out her arm and ran her hand over the horse's head like Leonard did, feeling the restrained strength and the tension which was slowly draining the more she touched.

When Leonard led the horse outside, she quickly geared up another horse and followed him. Once outside, Leonard saddled up and started moving, Penny following him. She noticed her father running back into the house but couldn't think more of it when Leonard suddenly sped away with an exultant yell.

She quickly followed them, putting her legs into her horse until she had caught up with him. They ran around the pasture a few times until Leonard sped up even more and to Penny's both horror and astonishment, he jumped the low fence into the open field behind her parents' property. Remembering her training, she followed him and soon they were speeding down mile after mile in a fast gait.

Despite the fact that the daylight was already fading, their ride ended way too soon and Leonard led them back, speeding up again to jump the fence once more, although Penny chose the nearby gate this time, her own horse pretty worn out. After closing it again, she rode to the front where her father was filming them with his old camcorder.

"Dad, isn't this awesome?" she exclaimed happily while Leonard rode a few more circles around the pasture.

"I must say, this is the last thing I expected." her father acknowledged and pointed towards Leonard.

When he reached the highest point, where Leonard had stood before to use his phone, the horse suddenly reared up. Penny didn't know if he did that on purpose to strike a heroic pose or by accident but he looked dashing with one arm in the air to keep his balance. Leonard slowly rode towards them and stopped before the fence, smiling brightly at them.

"Holy crap, that was frightening." he laughed.

"But it looked absolutely amazing." Penny beamed with joy.

"Yeah, you can watch it later, I caught it all." her dad said, pointing to his camcorder.

"Wyatt, can you give a copy of the recording?" Leonard asked.

"I don't know." Wyatt replied. "It's a pretty old camcorder, it still uses a tape."

"Not a problem. There are adapters for everything now." Leonard said and jumped off the horse to lead it back to the stable with Penny following him.

Once they were inside, Wyatt instructed him how to take off the bridle and saddle and how to clean the horse. Leonard did as he was told, highly enjoying the activity and also watching with how much care Penny cleaned her horse. He realized what Penny had given up when she had moved to Pasadena and was glad that he took her here for the week. If he could do that again for her, he would without hesitation.

The rest of the day passed by quickly, Meryl putting out a delicious dinner as usual while Penny told her about what happened, with Wyatt confirming her story. True to his word, Leonard had an adapter to connect his old camcorder to his laptop and managed to copy the video to it, which Penny was glad of since she could get a copy now herself and show it to Cheryl and Kim.

"Leonard, I have to ask." Wyatt started. "What did you do?"

"Actually, I froze in fear at first when I saw him barrel down at me. Then I thought to myself, if I flee, he will run me down. So I stood my ground and prepared to jump to the side before he could hit me. But then he slowed down and stopped just before me so I just touched him."

"That was quite the risk."

"It wouldn't have been if you hadn't let him out while Leonard was on the pasture." Penny interjected, her worry coming back at the thought about what could have happened.

"It turned out okay, didn't it?" Wyatt smiled at her. "I just hope that Tornado doesn't revert when you guys are gone again."

"Well, if he does, we'll have an excuse to visit again." Leonard grinned.

"Son, you don't need a reason, you're welcome here anytime." her father proclaimed. "You too Penny."

"Gee, thanks dad." Penny said sarcastically, while her father laughed.

The rest of the dinner went as usual, with idle conversation and followed by a movie in the living room before Penny and Leonard went into her room again.

"By the way, who did you call when you were outside?" Penny asked after they had gotten into bed, Leonard constantly fidgeting while trying a way to get comfortable. "What are you doing?"

"I can't lie on my back. My ass and thighs are killing me." he said.

"Crybaby. I feel fine and I rode as long as you today." she grinned.

"Honey, to be fair, you have been riding me several times a week since we met and although I'm not a horse, the movements are more or less the same."

"Yeah, but... okay, you have a point." she admitted. "Want me to ride you some more?"

"I'd love to but as I said, I can't be on my back."

"Get on your stomach." she ordered.

Leonard did as he was told and she sat down on his knees after pulling his shorts down, kneading the flesh of his thighs and ass to take some of the pain away.

"Mh, that feels good." he hummed.

"So, back to my earlier question, who did you call?"

"Well, Sheldon at first, to make sure he doesn't freak out. He kept accusing me of negligence because I didn't call him at all during the evenings. He at least understands why I haven't called during the day. I simply told him we were busy."

"We?"

"Oh, yeah, I said we. Maybe he'll finally figure it out." Leonard grinned and moaned when Penny found another sore spot. "After Sheldon, I called Frank."

"How is he."

"He's a father now. The baby was born yesterday."

"Really? That's great!" she exclaimed.

"Yep. Baby boy, twenty-five inches and twelve pounds."

"Holy crap, that is one big baby. How did Alice manage that?"

"C-section. There was no other way. And the last call was to Professor Brinkman. He asked me to bring the car to him on Sunday evening, so he can get to work on Monday, since he gave Frank the week off to spend it with his new family."

"Oh, that's a good question for us. When do we leave here? Tomorrow or on Saturday?" she asked.

"It depends on how long we can drive before we have to take a break. If we want to be home on Sunday evening, we need to either get very far on Saturday or get up very early on Sunday."

"Both choices aren't very appealing." Penny admitted. "How about we leave tomorrow and make two overnight stops instead of one?"

"That's actually a good idea. But don't you want to spend one more day with your family?"

"Yeah. But it wouldn't be fair to you if we had to drive for fifteen hours to get far enough. That you have taken me here was amazing enough so the least I can do is make a twelve-hour sacrifice." she said.

"Okay. And if we really make two overnight stops, we don't need to get up too early tomorrow. If we stop in Denver again, we can easily leave at ten in the morning and still be there for dinner." Leonard said.

"Great. I'll go tell my parents. You stay here, just like that." Penny said and jumped up, putting on some sweatpants before she ran down the stairs to the living room where her parents were sitting.

"Hey slugger. Forgot anything?" Wyatt asked.

"No, I just wanted to let you know that we need to leave tomorrow in the morning, at ten or so. The professor that lent Leonard the car needs it back on Sunday and we don't want to drive sixteen hours in a row."

"Oh, too bad. But if it's necessary, we can still have breakfast tomorrow then, right?" Meryl asked.

"Yeah, sure." Penny agreed.

"What's Leonard doing now?" her dad asked her.

"He's lying on my bed, naked from the waist down."

"I don't need to hear that." her father said shocked, holding his hands to his ears.

"Relax. I need the anti-cramp ointment. Leonard isn't used to riding a horse for hours."

"Oh, it's in the master bathroom." her mother said and winked at her.

Penny got the ointment and went back into her bedroom, finding Leonard still on his stomach but facing the opposite direction to work on his laptop. When she got closer, she saw him scrolling through his movie selection and before sitting down on his knees, she took off her sweatpants again, earning her a appreciative hum and raised eyebrows from Leonard.

"What?" she asked, looking down at herself.

"Nothing. Just thinking about what a lucky guy I am." he smiled as she started rubbing the ointment on his skin.

"This takes me back to the bed and breakfast. We did the same thing after our ride there." he said.

"Yep. And back then you were the only one too who needed an ointment."

"And as I said before, you ride several times a week." he grinned. "Not tonight though."

"Too bad. And here I thought I could ride you for a few hours."

"Don't torture me. You know how much I love it when you bounce on top of me." he whined, but Penny could hear that he wasn't really mad.

"Well, do you think it's easy for me? My hot and wet heat is throbbing with desire." she replied playfully, making him groan.

"Take off your clothes. Right now." he ordered and sat up, his authoritative tone making her even more aroused.

She obeyed and took off her shirt, bra and panties and stood next to her bed, unsure of what he was planning. He had taken off his own shirt and since she had taken off his shorts earlier, he was naked as well. Suddenly, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her on the bed, pushing her down on her stomach and laying his body on top of hers, their upper bodies in complete contact.

He didn't waste any time and pushed into her, in her most favorite position no less and started pounding her in a steady but not overly fast speed. She knew that he could hold this pace for a long time without climaxing while she wasn't so disciplined when he was hitting her g-spot with every thrust while his lips and teeth moved over the pulse point on her neck, driving her even wilder. When she climaxed the first time and Leonard didn't change his speed at all, she knew that she was in for the ride of her life again.

Two hours later, Penny stood on shaky legs in front of her bathroom mirror, brushing her teeth and watching the hickey on her neck get bigger and bigger while Leonard changed the sheets on her bed. As expected, Leonard hadn't disappointed and had kept pounding her to four orgasms for half an hour until he released.

He hadn't pulled out though, staying nestled inside her warmth while sucking and nipping on her neck or kissing her lips until he grew hard again and got to pound her some more. He had repeated that twice, giving her climax after climax while his body stayed fused to hers. And in that position, his aching butt didn't cause any problems for him.

Since her mother would change her sheets anyway once she was gone, she hoped that it wouldn't be too strange when she dropped the dirty sheets in the laundry basket in the morning. Although her mom would surely realize what these sheets had to endure during the week. After finishing up, Penny went back into her bedroom, making room for Leonard.

He didn't take as long as her and was out after only five minutes. He climbed into bed and over her to cover her back like he had the last two hours with the only difference that they were on their sides and not joined at the groin. His arm went around her waist and her legs intertwined with his before she fell into her last satisfied sleep in this bed.

After a hearty breakfast, both went back into her room to pack their luggage, packing one back with the clothes they would need during their overnight stops. Penny needed more room, since she had bought several items of clothing and a pair of shoes while in town. As Leonard stashed the bags and luggage in the car with Wyatt's help, Meryl handed Penny two bags with lunch for their ride.

"Leonard, it has been a pleasure." Meryl told him and hugged her almost-son-in-law while Wyatt did the same with Penny. Although Penny hadn't mentioned marriage ever, Meryl knew that those two would end up married some day.

"The pleasure was mine." Leonard replied, returning the hug, enjoying the display of affection which was so unlike his own family. They switched places and Leonard found himself enveloped in Wyatt's arms.

"It has been a blast, son. Thanks to you I have a new horse that now actually listens and I might soon be energy independent, at least in terms of heating the house."

"My pleasure, Wyatt." Leonard replied and extricated himself from him before getting into the car and waiting for Penny to join him, which she did after a few more minutes of teary good-byes.

"BYE DADDY! BYE MOMMY!" she shouted out of the window after Leonard had started the car and waved her hand enthusiastically while they drove down the road, her parents waving until they were out of sight.

"That was such a great week Leonard, thank you so much." she said and leaned over to place a kiss on his cheek. "I don't know if I can ever repay you."

"Seeing you happy is reward enough." he replied, making her even more teary.

"You are the greatest."

"Okay, how do we handle the driving arrangements? Want to switch again when we reach Lexington? Then overnight stay in Denver again before we leave again?" he asked.

"Sure, sounds good."

"Okay, but first tell me where we can find a branch office of your bank."

"Why?"

"Because you have all that cash with you and you should really pay your bills and put some money back into your account."

"Right, I completely forgot about that." Penny admitted and gave Leonard the direction he needed.

It didn't take long and twenty minutes later they were on the road again and Penny was happy that she had her bills paid and some money back in the bank. She had kept a few hundred dollars since she was determined not to let Leonard pay for everything on the way back. Gas and stays in hotels quickly added up.

Since they had a comparatively short night, Penny made herself comfortable and tried to get some more sleep. The soft music playing on the radio combined with the smooth ride and comfortable seats soon lulled her into a nap.

True to their agreement, Leonard woke her when they reached Lexington and Penny enthusiastically got behind the wheel, the car being a joy to drive. Leonard stayed awake during her turn and they kept talking about this and that with Penny particularly concentrating on his rapport with Tornado and how heroic he had looked when the horse had reared.

Since the whole drive was in no way boring, she was surprised when they saw the city of Denver looming in the distance. Less than an hour later they drove onto the parking lot of the same hotel they stayed in a week before and by pure chance, they even got the same room.

Since her need for shopping had been fulfilled in Omaha, Penny opted for them to have a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant before she pulled him back into the hotel room. After her shower, she grabbed his laptop and lay down on her stomach. She scrolled through the available movies on his hard drive when she saw a folder that consisted only of a random string of numbers and letters. When she clicked on it, it demanded a password.

"Leonard?" she asked him as he returned from the bathroom.

"Yeah?"

"I always wanted to ask someone who knows about this. What are these folders for?" she inquired and pointed to the one in question.

"Those are folders that the operating system creates to store backup data."

"Is that why they want a password to open?"

"No, they are usually not accessible at all. They don't ask for a password."

"Well, this one does." he said.

"Yeah, because it's my Penny folder." he said proudly.

"Come again?"

"I'll show you." he said and clicked on the folder, entering the password too fast for her to see and opening it. In it, she found every picture she had taken and sent to him as well as every video they had made with the camcorder or any of their phones.

"Wow, those bring back memories. These first ones are all those that Kim and Cheryl saw too until I found out that they were stealing them."

"When was this?"

"When I threw her phone out of your window, remember?"

"Oh yeah, right. That was the night I took you out on a date and we ran into Sheldon."

"Yeah, and we had sex in that movie theater." she grinned.

"That was a great night." he agreed and stood up again to get some refreshments from his bag while Penny started one of the videos they shot, fast-forwarding to a random point and filling the room with giggles and moans.

Watching herself in action, she felt the arousal spike and her ears went deaf to any other sound but those coming from the speakers. By chance, she had chosen their eight times all-nighter and landed on the fifth time, the one where Leonard had donned the rubber band and roughly pounded her from behind.

Though this time she saw details that she understandably missed when she was receiving orgasm after orgasm. She watched him gently slapping her ass, the sounds echoing through the air while her screen-self screamed out another orgasm combined with lots of expletives. Penny was so fixated on the screen that she didn't even realize that Leonard had climbed on the bed. She just noticed his presence when she felt a sudden pain.

"Ouch." she yelped. "Leonard, did you just bite my ass?"

"Yeah. Sorry, couldn't help myself after seeing you in a thong. Was it too hard?"

"No, I was just surprised. Warn me the next time." she admonished playfully and wiggled her cheeks seductively.

"Somebody here gets horny watching us have sex." he whispered into her ear as he pressed himself on on her body.

"Yeah, and it's you." she laughed when she felt the bulge in his shorts pressing against her center.

"Not only me. I could smell your arousal when my head was down there."

"Really?" she asked giggling. "What does it smell like?"

"'It's indescribable. It simply smells like sex. And as I said before, you taste great."

"So, what do you want to do about it?"

Instead of answering, he slid down her body and slowly pulled her thong off her, her arousal spiking even more when it hit the floor. She wanted to turn on her back but he held her still and kissed up her leg until his tongue got in contact with her wet folds. She inhaled sharply at the sudden sensation, her legs already quivering.

His skillful tongue let the moisture pool between her legs but he lapped it up unperturbed, not letting a drop escape. His hands grabbed her hips tightly, lifting her up a few inches to give him better access and his tongue delved deep into her, running along her inner walls. He pushed a finger into her and then two and the double sensation had her climaxing quickly, her moans filling the room.

"Leonard? How's your ass?" she asked him panting.

"Feels okay, I guess." he replied. "Why?"

"Lay down on your back. I want, no I need to fuck you." she ordered and he complied. She pulled off his shorts and her shirt, revealing her full breasts to his eager hands and mounted him quickly. Her hands went to his chest to give her some leverage and she started grinding rapidly, the movement causing the abused bedsprings to scream in agony.

A week ago she had been standing in the shower inside the adjoining bath and Leonard had pounded her hard without slowing down. Tonight, she repaid him in this room by riding him hard without slowing down, no matter how hard she came and how loud her own screams were. And since he loved to see her riding him, he kept thinking boring thoughts until he couldn't hold it in anymore and Penny collapsed on his chest after half an hour of hard riding. Barely able to breath, she rolled off him and her exhaustion immediately pulled her to sleep.

When Penny woke up, it was still dark out and it was marked by the absence of the warm body behind her. She turned around to snuggle into him to find Leonard's side of the bed empty, which made her open her eyes only to find Leonard's silhouette standing at the window.

"Hey." she mumbled sleepily. "Why are you standing over there?"

"For some reason I can't sleep."

"Haven't I worn you out enough?" she grinned.

"Yeah. And I'm really tired but I can't fall asleep. Can't explain it."

"That's weird."

"It is. But you know the old phrase. 'You're never more awake than when you go to bed...'" he started.

"'...and never more tired than after waking up." she finished. "Can you come to bed anyway? Or else I can't sleep too."

"Why?" he asked but got into bed anyway, spooning her like he usually did.

"Because even if it sounds selfish, I can't sleep when you're not in bed with me." she said and snuggled into his embrace.

"How do you sleep when we can't spend the night together?"

"Badly." she admitted and almost immediately fell asleep again.

Her phone woke her up again at eight in the morning, making her hit the mute button with almost brutal strength. She felt Leonard's arms around her and turned around, looking into his open eyes.

"Hey." she said to him. "Did you finally fall asleep?"

"Not really. Just dozing" he admitted.

"Then I think it's better for you if I drive the first part of today's leg." she said and got up to use the bathroom.

She hurried up and made room for Leonard, getting dressed while he was busy in the bathroom. After they were done, they went downstairs for breakfast before Penny paid the bill this time. Ten minutes later, the bags were stashed and they were on the road again, with Penny in the driver's seat as she had promised.

Like a mother rocking the crib to bring a toddler to sleep, the gentle vibrations of the car going down the highway soon had Leonard in dreamland as well. Penny smiled at his prone form, the seat pushed back so he could be horizontal. She had no idea where he had planned to stop tonight but she was determined to get them as far as possible so he would have to drive as little as possible. Even if it meant going over the speed limit a bit.

Usually she found riding in a car with someone without communicating with said person a lot dreary, except when that person was Sheldon, but like it had been on the trip to Nebraska, just being in the car with Leonard had a tremendous calming effect on her, making her simply happy. She leaned back and concentrated on the road, the weekend traffic slowing them down but not enough to be a drag.

After six hours, she desperately needed a bathroom break and pulled over at a rest stop, the change in speed finally waking up Leonard. She smiled at him and exited the car, hurrying into the building and to the toilets while Leonard did the same, only slower. After relieving herself, she went back out to the car to take out the sandwiches her mother had prepared for them.

"How long did I sleep?" Leonard asked.

"Six hours or so." Penny replied, taking another bite and washing it down with some juice.

"Why didn't you wake me before?"

"You needed your sleep. You were awake most of the night while I slept like a baby once you were holding me again."

"I managed to doze off after a while."

"Still, you were really tired after we got up and you almost immediately fell asleep again once we were in the car." she said and finished her sandwich. "But I must admit, driving six hours straight is really tiresome."

"Oh, I know. But you can nap while I drive."

"Where are we staying tonight?"

"Lets decide that when it gets dark." he decided and finished his own sandwich as well, downing his red bull before getting into the drivers seat.

Penny followed him into the car and adjusted the passenger seat as Leonard started it and drove back on the highway. She had intended to stay awake to keep him company but the movement of the car did its work on her own body and soon enough, her seat was in the prone position and she was napping away.

"Penny, wake up." Leonard's voice pulled her out of sleep.

"Hey, sweetie. Is it night already?"

"No, it's only six in the evening but I think I found the perfect place for us to stay the night and have some fun before."

"Oh, where are we going?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Look." he pointed and she turned forward, seeing the Las Vegas skyline come closer.

"Leonard! That's such a fantastic idea." she cried and threw her arms around his neck, pressing a kiss to his cheek and making him strain hard to keep the car on the road.

She giggled the entire way he drove them along the Las Vegas strip, passing casino after casino until he stopped at the MGM Grand. She jumped out of the car and was about to run to the front doors when she realized that she should help Leonard with the bags they needed for the night. She went back and grabbed her overnight bag while he took his before she took his hand and led him towards the doors, getting into the hotel.

They took a room and stashed their bags, each washing up before they grabbed their money, with Leonard leaving enough in the room to pay for the room in the morning and headed into the casino. Penny wanted to run into the casino but Leonard held her back, pointing to the cash-out area where they could exchange their money for chips..

"How much money do you plan to use?" Leonard asked her.

"Two hundred. I left the rest upstairs." she replied. "What about you?"

"The same." he said while they got their casino currency. They walked onto the casino floor and Penny squealed in excitement, running to the slot machines and starting to play.

"If you watch others play and wait until they are leaving frustrated, the chance of winning is greatly increased." he advised and looked around himself. "God dammit." he cursed, making her look up.

"What's wrong?"

"There is a small Texas hold'em poker tournament tonight."

"So?" she asked.

"I can't afford the buy-in. It's three hundred dollars and I just have two hundred."

"Here." Penny said and handed him half of her chips.

"Are you sure?" he asked, hesitating.

"Yeah. Take it. Go play." she smiled. "Just remember, everything you win, one third of it is mine." she added with a wink.

"Thank you." he said and kissed her before heading to the area where the tournament was about to start.

Since the four tables, with five players each, were in a roped-off area, she couldn't stay behind him, only a few feet away behind the velvet ropes. She decided to play a bit herself before watching him play poker, if he managed to get that far.

She looked around and saw someone get off his chair in front of a slot machine he was playing on for the last ten minutes. She waited a few seconds and went to the machine herself, starting to play it to see if Leonard's claim had any merit. It took five minutes but he turned out to be right when the machine started ringing before a lot of chips tumbled out of it.

She picked them up, giggling all the time and with her newfound prosperity, small as it may be, she headed to the craps table, sitting down between two sweaty guys who wasted no time looking her up and down, making her happy that she didn't change into some revealing outfit before coming down here.

Although she won a few games, she lost a lot more and much to her dismay, it took two hours of incessant playing before she was down to a tenth of her starting money. With a sigh, she stood up from the table and went to look for her boyfriend.

Penny found Leonard sitting at the poker table where she left him, with the tournament apparently almost over since there was only him and one other player left. Her eyes went wide at the stack of chips in front of him, indicating that he must have won quite a few hands. His opponent had a similar stack of chips on his side, so the game seemed to be pretty much tied.

She moved along the velvet ropes encircling the playing area, which were present to prevent anyone to move too close to the players and help them cheat. Leonard's opponent was wearing sunglasses while he himself couldn't and tried to present a good poker face.

When she reached a good space right behind Leonard, she saw his hand and the pair of twos he was holding. Since the flop wasn't on the table yet, she didn't know if that was a good sign or not. Both players put in the blinds and the dealer dished out the three cards. Penny craned her neck to look at them and saw that it was a nine, a ten and a jack, all of diamonds.

Knowing something about playing poker, she knew that Leonard still had only the pair and since none of his cards were of the same suit, he didn't have any chance for a flush. She didn't know what his opponent had but it seemed to be something good because the guy suddenly threw in ten black chips, raising the pot to a thousand. To her surprise and some horror, Leonard matched it without hesitation.

She watched in agitation as the dealer handed out the turn, which was a five, again of diamonds. The chance for Leonard's opponent to have a flush rose even more and it became more apparent that he possibly had one because he raised another five hundred which Leonard also called right away.

The dealer put the river card on the table and it turned out to be the seven of hearts. Leonard still only had his two-pair while his opponent could have a diamond flush or even a straight if he had an eight in his hand. Which he probably had because he immediately went all in, an action the audience rewarded with a hush. Her mouth went dry when Leonard didn't immediately threw in his cards.

"How much is that?" she heard Leonard ask the dealer, pointing at the chips in the middle of the table.

"Exactly two thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight dollars." the dealer replied after a minute. She saw Leonard looking at his own chips as if counting them as well.

"That means I have three thousand and two dollars. I call." she heard him say and was surprised by that fact, knowing that he went into that game with three hundred dollars. But since the tournament started with twenty players with three hundred dollars each, a bit of simple math explained that.

As the one going all-in, his opponent revealed his cards first, which turned out to be an ace of spades and a king of clubs. Penny couldn't believe it. The guy had nothing but an ace high and Leonard managed to call his bluff. She watched Leonard triumphantly reveal his cards to the exasperated groan of his opponent and to the cheer of the watching crowd. He got a chip holder and put all the chips inside before standing up and walking out of the roped area. She wasted no time in intercepting him.

"Leonard!" she yelled and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him hard. "That was an amazing play. Where did you learn to play poker like that?"

"Online." he grinned back and checked his watch. "I thought to myself, I won millions of virtual dollars in online poker games, why not try my skills for real."

"But that was so amazing how you called his bluff at the end." she told him as they walked to the cash-out.

"I cheated." he whispered when they had reached an area with much less people than the casino floor.

"What? How?"

"I saw the reflection of the guy's cards in his sunglasses." he grinned.

"I said it before, but you are a sneaky one Doctor Hofstadter. That was so hot."

Without a reply, Leonard went to the cash-out and exchanged his chips for real money, Penny feeling giddy at the sight of such a lot of cash.

"So Penny, are you up for upgrading our hotel room and having a blast tonight?" he asked with a grin.

"Fucking yes." she hissed and held him tight, walking arm in arm towards the hotel reception.

After a short discussion with the clerk, they went to their original room with a bellboy to get their bags before exchanging keys and headed up a few floors to the more luxurious rooms. Leonard opened it and both went inside, whereupon Penny giggled loudly and jumped on the giant bed, bouncing off the soft mattress and almost falling off the other side.

"This room is so great." she squealed and sat up until she was on her knees.

"And the bathroom has a Jacuzzi." he called from the bathroom door.

"Great!" she shouted and jumped from the bed, hurrying to the bathroom door where Leonard was standing and seeing the tub with the jets on its sides and a rubber mat on the floor of it to prevent slipping.

"I'm getting a flashback to the bed and breakfast." he grinned.

"You're not just getting a flashback." she quipped, seeing the bulge forming in his pants.

"Yeah well, who could blame me." he grinned. "Being with you in warm water, having you grind on me, my cock in your even warmer embrace..." he reminisced, which made Penny hot as well when she remembered what they did at that B&B.

She opened the tap and let it fill the tub, the construction of it making the filling process quick due to the added water outlets at the side of the tub. They watched the water level rise higher and higher, Penny looking at Leonard with a grin and licking her lips in anticipation. As the last of the water went into the tub, she started, without ever taking off her eyes off his, to discard one item of clothing after another.

He watched her with mesmerized eyes as first her pants, then her shirt and then her socks fell, his eyes going down her body and the amazingly sexy underwear she had on as if she had known that they would get another night like this. She started touching herself by running her hands down her chest, letting them circle on her still covered breasts before going to her stomach until they ended between her legs, moaning all the way.

Leonard almost lost it right there, the pressure inside his pants getting almost painful to bear when watching his beautiful girlfriend touching her body. He opened his pants and let them fall, kicking them away before his shirt followed them on their downward path. His own socks were gone fast and without waiting for any hint, he dropped his shorts as well, freeing his straining erection from its confinement with a sigh.

"Somebody is eager." she grinned and watched his manhood twitching.

"With you doing that while sounding like that?"

"Get into the tub." she ordered and he immediately complied, jumping into the tub.

She stepped into the tub herself, her back facing him and took off her bra, flinging it away like her other clothes. She put her hands on her ass and pulled her cheeks slightly apart, enjoying the moan she got out of him doing that.

"Do you like how my ass looks in this g-string?" she asked seductively.

"Yes. A thousand times yes." he groaned.

"Good." she grinned and slowly took off the last piece of clothing, lifting one leg after another so it wouldn't get wet.

"It looks even better without the g-string." his voice said behind her.

"Leonard. I want you to lick me hard. Stick your tongue deep into my pussy and make me come hard." Penny ordered and before the last syllable had even left her mouth, his own was already pressed between her legs, his tongue doing exactly what she wanted, running inside her folds and making her muscles shake.

He went down on her hard, his tongue running rough and deep inside her and she shuddered and twitched, trying to stay upright. After only two more minutes, she squealed in her climax, almost collapsing into the tub with only his hands holding her steady.

She moved forward to signal him to stop, which he did. He leaned back against the back end, watching her calm down after what he did to her. She turned her head to look down at him, seeing his still ramrod hard erection under the water. She stepped back again and bent her knees sinking down into the water until his top touched her center.

She stopped upon the contact, staying like this for almost thirty seconds when Leonard groaned in frustration and grabbed her hips to push her down the rest of the way, ramming himself into her to the hilt and making her cry out in pleasure. She waited a few seconds to get used to him before she started moving, bouncing gently up and down.

"Faster." he ordered and his voice didn't let her resist.

She sped up, his hands guiding her and making her increase her speed even more until she was bouncing wildly on him. The apparent genius construction of the tub became obvious when the water they were displacing with their rapid movements didn't slosh over the rim to the floor but into carefully placed drainage channels close to the top. Apparently the designers of the hotel rooms knew that their guests would use the tubs for something else than just bathing.

His hands glided to her hips and pulled her back until she was pressed against his chest. Her bouncing changed angle and became even more stimulating but when his hand went between her legs to rub her clit, she couldn't take it anymore and climaxed with a loud scream. She slowed down a bit to ride it out, her position on top allowing her to do that.

He seemed to have caught on to that because he pushed himself into an upright position, taking her with him and kept pushing until she was bent forward. He pulled out and got on his knees, pulling her legs out from under her until her stomach was flush against the sloped end of the tub, her head and upper chest out of the water.

She realized what his plan was and sure enough, his body was soon on hers and he pushed into her from behind. Since he knew that this position and its variations were her favorite, he tried to use it as often as he could and although she was eternally grateful that he always gave her such a great amount of pleasure when they made love, sometimes it was almost too much when he tried to bring her to orgasm as often as he could.

Her breaths came out through clenched teeth in rhythm with his movements, his cock slamming deep into her and hitting her g-spot with every single thrust. She yelled out another orgasm which he didn't led her ride out, simply continuing in that fast speed. It was almost as if he wanted her to be aching between her legs but since he took every care not to hurt her at all, she knew that his efforts were based in his desire to give her pleasure.

"Leonard." she pleaded. "Come for me baby."

Her plea seemed to work and with a few mighty thrusts, he climaxed himself and spilled deep into her before collapsing on her back and lying there for several minutes without moving. When she couldn't take his weight pressing her against the tub anymore, she pushed him backwards until he was leaning back against the other end again.

She turned around and leaned back herself, putting her legs on his waist and activating the air jets. Her face flush with orgasmic satisfaction, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm and bubbling water surrounding her. She took her time, waiting almost an hour before deciding that it was enough and followed Leonard, who had gotten out half an hour earlier, out of the tub.

She found him lying on the bed and watching the news while playing around with his phone. After her bath, she had found several robes in the bathroom closets, which were part of the luxurious room inventory and put one over her still naked body, not bothering with any underwear and seeing that he had had the same thought when he moved in the bed and involuntarily flashed her.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked and joined him on the bed.

"Sending Sheldon a message that I'm going to be home tomorrow."

"When will that be?"

"Whenever we choose it to be. It's less than a four-hour drive from here to Pasadena." he clarified.

"When do you want to leave here?"

"The room is rented until noon, so we can sleep in, have a nice lunch and then leave. Then I'll drop you and my luggage off and take the car to a gas station to fill it up and then back to Professor Brinkman's house."

"How will you get home?"

"I just take a cab, no biggie."

"Nonsense, I'll follow you with my car and take you back with me."

"You don't have to do that." he said.

"Leonard. You brought me to Nebraska, you made me have the best week of my entire life and what kind of girlfriend would I be if I don't do some driving for you."

"Okay." he conceded, seeing her determination. "Oh, by the way, here." he said and handed her a stack of bills.

"Leonard, why are you giving me two thousand dollars?" she asked shocked after counting it.

"It's your share of the winnings. Remember? When you gave the that hundred dollars, you said that a third of my winnings would be yours."

"I was joking. It would have been enough to give me the money back that I gave you."

"Well, you didn't so you can keep it all."

"But..."

"You can afford those boots now that I saw on your computer that day two weeks ago." he said and every argument she attempted to bring died on her tongue.

"You had to bring out the big guns, did you?" she grinned and snuggled into him. "I don't know how I can ever thank you."

"You being with me and letting me make love to you is reward enough."

"In that case, I will gladly make love to you all night, even though I'm going to be aching again tomorrow."

True to her word, they made love for hours, spending the breaks in between cuddling and kissing and enjoying the contents of the minibar. They got up an hour before lunch, showering together and then having the lunch they agreed on before they paid the bill and left the MGM a lot richer than they entered it.

And when they passed the city limits of Pasadena and their home came closer, Penny thought about the week, realizing that while they had a lot of sex, something she would never be against, it had brought them much closer. Watching him interacting with her parents and especially her parents interact with him or how her extended family had accepted him, it made her see that Leonard would be the man she would end up with.

She just had to finally find the courage to tell him that she loved him without stuttering or fearing that his answer would sound forced. But that would be something for another day. For now, they needed to get back into their routine. And she had to buy a gorgeous pair of boots.

And finally you have reached the end of the chapter. Most of you are probably exhausted by now ^^

Still, review please :)