WARNING: You've reached the chapter that explains why I changed the rating. Just thought I'd warn you.

CHAPTER 28

"I didn't think you were one to walk out of your own grand presentation. Don't you like to flaunt your medical machoness and slap us in the face with your big words and huge brain?"

He didn't turn around. "I've done my job. You can go home now. I'm sure the cows miss you."

"They're ok; we email." Leah watched for a movement, a sign…something. Nothing. He wasn't moving, just staring out the window at the dark sky. Leah wasn't sure she wanted to fight for him. She just wasn't sure about anything except…

…Wyoming wasn't enough anymore. Her clinic wasn't enough anymore.

That once comfortable and familiar life just didn't seem like enough anymore.

Leah didn't know what to do so she turned around to leave when House whispered, just loud enough for her to hear, "Yeah, run away like you do so well."

She stopped and turned around. "I'm not running away."

"Yes you are."

"Turn around. I won't have this discussion to your bald head. If you want to talk be a man. Turn around." House slowly did as bid and leaned back in his chair, his hands folded over his stomach. "I'm not running away. I didn't come here for anything other than the convention. It's over. Jaymie's diagnosed. You'll run the tests. We go home. We do have Western medicine in Wyoming you know. We'll treat her there. We don't belong here anymore."

"You're so screwed up you don't know which way you're going."

Leah paused, her ire rising faster with each millisecond. "I guess you would know better than anyone else if someone's screwed up or not. But how am I that screwed up?"

House unfolded his hands but didn't move them from his stomach. "You're afraid."

"Pot calling kettle black."

"The least you could've done was to be honest to your cheating husband."

"Honest about what? He's the one that cheated on me. And how much do you know about that?"

"Enough."

"I didn't know he cheated until well after his death."

"Like I care." House leaned forward, shed his tuxedo coat and leaned across the desk.

Leah was caught in a situation she needed to get out of. Quickly. So she resorted to junior high antics. Gesticulating wildly and looking at everywhere but him she said, "I find you repulsive."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire."

"How can anyone like you? You're obnoxious, crude and a jerk. You have no real redeeming qualities except the ability to get on everyone's nerves. No real woman would want you."

House's yawn was blasé. "If that's the case why do all the women who sleep with me scream, 'I love you!' as they reach carnal ecstasy?"

"They're thinking about someone else."

"Ouch. That hurt." House's tone matched his yawn. "Then count yourself as fake because you want me. But why would I want you? Why would I want a woman who gets pregnant by someone else, knows it's someone else's kid, refuses to tell the real father, passes off the kid as her boyfriend's then, when the kid dies, makes the other guy think it's his when it isn't?"

Leah was shocked. That was the last thing she expected to hear from him, now of all times. "Wha…how…how do you know about that?"

"Your daughter has a big mouth but, then, so do all blondes. Why do you think the majority of hookers are blonde?"

Leah was so furious she couldn't do anything except look away. She turned and saw that the conference room was dark. They were alone. Good. I can yell without an audience. She turned back to find him watching her. For the life of him he couldn't take his eyes from her beauty.

It was like college again.

He'd lost count of how many times she'd pissed him off, embarrassed him, got the best of him during class but all he had to do was look at her and he'd kept coming back for more. That's why he loved her. And yes, he could finally admit that to himself. He loved her. He loved her for 25 years. He loved her during the darkness of depression after she left. He loved her during the friendless nights of living alone and feeling unloved and rejected. He loved her during the dark Stacy days, even when he hated her at the same time for putting him in that situation in the first place. It didn't even matter that he had no idea if Leah would've prevented him from going down that road to begin with or not. He was mad at losing the chance.

Leah stepped closer but kept her distance. She knew that if she got too close it might be too much. Downstairs had been overwhelming and it still hung over them like a cartoon thundercloud. "Would it make any difference if I explained myself?"

He shook his head. "I already know the reason. The reason doesn't matter anyway. You didn't tell me."

"It wasn't your place to know."

This pissed House off even more. "Not my place?! I was the father; I had every right to know. You had no right to keep that child from me."

Leah was losing control of this very quickly. She was mad at House and herself for getting out of control with him. But it felt so good to hurt him like he hurt her. Oh sure, she had no right to that demand but she didn't care. "What does it matter? You would've told me to abort it anyway. I couldn't hear those words from you."

House's blue eyes flashed as he shot from the chair and limped towards her, stopping several feet from her. Leah instantly regretted what she said, only because it seemed to genuinely hurt him. But she didn't regret saying it because she felt it needed to be said. "You don't know that."

"You wouldn't have wanted a baby and you'd have made a lousy father. We both know that. We both had a better life without you knowing about it. Besides, Jake thought it was his. He was so happy to be a dad. He was thinking about how to support the three of us through med school and we had a list of names we were considering…"

House couldn't believe the sudden jealousy that raged through him. "Well isn't that just lovely?" He glared at Leah. "But it wasn't your right to assume that for me."

"Is this about your right or about the child?"

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

"Lisa knew but thought it was Jake's; Jaymie had no idea I was ever pregnant. I was the only person who ever knew who the real father was." She took a breath, as if to weigh her next words. "I wasn't going to tell Lisa I was coming here. I was going to do everything in my power to avoid you. Figure it out Sherlock."

"You worked hard to never speak to me again. Hell, you moved across the country to get away from me."

"I didn't move to get away from you. I moved because I wanted to marry the man who loved me."

"Who later screwed around on you."

"I never spoke to you again because I couldn't see you again. I didn't move away until after med school. I was engaged to Jake who absolutely wasn't you. Jake was good for me. He was comfortable. He wasn't surprising and he didn't aggravate me."

He watched her seriously. "You met Jake a month after you left me. You had a month to contact me and you didn't. Why?"

And Leah's last thread of control snapped. "Because you scared the living shit out of me!" Her voice rose one decibel with each word until she was practically screaming. "You still do!" Her gestures grew wilder as House's face smoothed over to animated listening.

"Every time I saw…see…you, every time you embarrassed me, every time we talk…talked…you stirred…stir…me like I'd never been stirred. It was like someone turned on a generator, fueling the arcs of electricity. I was so young and so serious about my future that I knew if I tried anything with you my life would change completely. That's why I kept pushing you away. That's why I gave you mixed signals. I wanted you but knew I couldn't have you." And to think you were never going to tell him. Stupid girl. "I had to get away from you. I had to cut you out of my life. Then I met Jake and he was…safe. He was predictable and understanding and thoughtful and we had the same goals. I could continue to have control over my life and still be with him. With him I…" She paused. "…almost…" House had to lean closer to hear her. "…forgot you." He grinned and she backpedalled. "But you were so different from him. God, you were this obnoxious and annoying and degrading and…and…" she gestured some more as House limped closer and stopped only about a few feet from her. "…and pathetic skinny dweeb with killer eyes and a sexy brain. You knew everything and made sure everyone knew it. But I knew that if I pursued anything with you, everything I worked so hard for would've been gone faster than my clothes that day. I would've become consumed by you and I couldn't let that happen." She didn't continue when she felt his hands on her arms, pulling her closer. If she'd looked up she would've seen his smiling face, happy to hear those words from her mouth that so echoed his own.

His voice lowered as he leaned in even closer. "You want me so bad you can't see straight. You're as afraid now as in college. You married a good ole country boy who you thought you could mold and ply to your desires. But he cheated on you because he didn't have what we had…" He leaned down and kissed her, his lips demanding and his tongue intrusive. House pulled away desperately. "…he couldn't leave you sweating and begging for more; he didn't have to work for you…"

Work for me?? "What…" she pulled away, her mind swimming at the sensations coursing through her body and pooling between her legs. "…what…do you…mean…?"

"Doesn't matter." He pulled her to himself and kissed her once again, hungrily demanding satisfaction. She wanted to stop…

…she really did.

She knew she needed to stop...

…she really did.

But she was back in college and he was kissing her and she was really, really liking it.

Oh to hell with it. Leah pulled away, her bruised lips trembled as she studied his. "Not here. Your apartment."

And House didn't give her time to change her mind.

*****

"Like hell you're leaving, not this time, not again," House growled and pushed her against the door of his apartment, shutting it behind them. He threw his keys on the desk next to the door as his inflamed body…his hands…mouth…erection…were desperate to feel her all over him, covering him, drowning him, sucking out his very soul. Leah writhed with the movements of his hands, every inch of her skin crying out for more. "I wanted more from you…" House demanded as his hands grabbed the bottom of the very gown he suddenly loved above all others, and lifted it higher for access to what was underneath. He was surprised to find her wearing panties; her dress gave no hint of undergarments. "…I wanted a chance." The sensitive nerves around her flat abdomen came alive and jumped violently underneath his soft finger movements. She moaned sharply and House rubbed harder, calming them down. His scruffiness, a new element to this otherwise painfully familiar dance, tickled the soft skin underneath her jaw. "It has been a long time."

Leah's breathing was shallow as she kneaded his shoulders and caressed his muscular upper arms. "You have no idea," Her whisper was hot and quick, her voice low and husky. "You're gonna kill me. You should know how dangerous…ooooh yeaaaaa…" she moaned as his kissed down to her clavicle. "…it is to go from 0 to 100 in no time flat." Her fingers went to his neck and it was his turn to moan as she rubbed his neck, fingering his short hair.

House's hands made quick time with her bikinis, pulling them down her legs as she worked his zipper with sloppy abandon. When she found his hardened, quivering erection, he emitted sounds akin to a strangled animal. Leah grinned and slowly lowered the zipper, the teeth's metallic whir sending a chill down her spine and his whimpers a decibel closer to the ceiling. The tux's trousers sagged on his narrow hips and she pushed them down to find him commando.

"Living life on the wild side, aren't we Dr. House?" Her breath was shallow and quick to match the beating of her heart.

"You know what the Boy Scouts say…" he growled as she slowly stroked his prominent member.

"Always use protection?"

He grinned. "That's Eagle Scout." His teeth yanked her earlobe and she chuckled.

"How long did it take you to get to get Eagle Scout?"

"Shut up and I'll show you." She gasped as House slowly inched a finger, than two, into her throbbing, sopping entrance. Leah rode up and down against the door, matching the movement of the now-two-fingered delight.

"Ah." She moaned, an orgasm quickly building…her first one in five years.

Fitting it should be the asshole to give it to her.

Her chest heaved and her head tilted back as his scruff grazed her pressure points, accelerating the intensity of the feelings. Just as she was about to dive headlong over the edge, House withdrew his fingers, leaving her bereaved.

"What the HELL are you doing?" She tried to sound pissed but her lack of breath prevented that.

He grinned. "Not yet…" He shifted with a grunt and she suddenly felt his moistened tip against her more-than-eager opening.

She leaned forward and placed her mouth against his ear, still trying to catch her breath. "What about your leg? I'm too heavy…"

House couldn't think of anything but ramming his throbbing member deep into her wetness. It was better than any pain medicine. He lifted her higher, holding her against the door as he stared her straight in the eye. Running the head of his penis through her folds he grabbed her hips and growled, "I've waited twenty-five years for this; no fucking leg is gonna stop me now."

She smiled breathlessly into his eyes, took a good long drag from his full, red mouth and nodded. "Show me what you got Monkee Boy."

With a grunt he thrust up deeply inside, filling her completely. Her head fell back to the door as she gasped with the pain. It had been five years since a man had filled her. It would take some adjusting.

But it felt just like it had twenty-five years ago.

Absolutely right.

Meanwhile House was gasping like an animal caught in a trap.

"Are…you…???" House moaned his eyes squeezed tight against the pulsating, warm dampness that hugged his sensitive member like a vice. "…ok…oh gaaaaawwwwddd…" His voice sounded like a strangled animal, his chest heaving with the burden of breathing.

The only description was of a euphoria so painful his whole body shook. He couldn't feel her weight, the adrenaline and hormonal rush were too great.

"Oh Greeeeeeg…" she moaned, suddenly desperate for the friction. Leah moved her pelvis. "Mmmmm…like this big guy…"

House's moaning increased as he quickly began to move, his movements having skipped the initial early slowness and going straight for the quick, hard stuff. "I caaaaa…"

"What??" Her hands grasped the short hair around his ears, her mouth against his jawbone.

The door rattled violently with his increasing thrusts. "I caaaan't hold oooonnn…"

Leah felt the rock-hard steel member engorge even more than she'd ever known possible. She knew he would come before she did (quite a feat considering she was already almost there when they joined) but she didn't care; she felt she owed him for that, at least.

"I know baby…" She gently grasped the base of his steel satin rod, slick with her own dew. She drew her slick fingertips over his balls, caressing them lightly with her nails. "Come for me."

He almost dropped her. "No…you first…" Veins popped out on his forehead.

"Hmmm…you feeeel soooo goooood…" She was quickly losing her restraint; if she didn't get him to agree RIGHT NOW she would come before he did, something she suddenly didn't want. "Come now or I'll leave."

He was gasping for breath. "You wouldn't."

She smiled wickedly and pressed her mouth to his, finding his tongue and sucking as hard as her pussy was sucking his dick. His body shuttered. Her command was urgent. "Do it!"

And with a couple of hard, quick thrusts he came, shooting his warmth inside and grunting her name against her neck.

Leah quickly followed, writhing and screaming his name against his neck. Neither of them felt the impact of the floor as they slid down, each nerve ending so sedated they wouldn't have felt anything anyway.

She lay underneath, her feet holding his ass so he stayed inside, his penis only slightly shrinking as the orgasm subsided. But Leah, more desperate than he seemed to be, wasn't happy with that. "Lean up," she whispered desperately.

"I can't. I have no feeling left in my arms."

"Fine." With whatever little strength she had she pushed him and rolled on top of him, his penis still embedded in her. Despite what they had just done, he was starting to grow rock hard again. Her smile was devilish. "There's my horny bastard," she grunted then removed her dress and threw it down the hall. His eyes widened and his member stiffened even faster. "Now it's my turn."

"You always had to be in control, didn't you…?"

She grinned and began moving…

…and this time she came before he did.

*****