What could have been

by son-goku5

In this story, Penny meets Leonard in a bar before she moves in next to him. Things happen. STORY IS RATED M FOR A REASON, MATURE CONTENT INSIDE. Please R&R. Chapter 90 is up :)

36. Chapter 36

Hey there. Managed to finish another one.

JOHN (Guest): She won't get brave enough for a bit yet. I see her character as someone who knows she did wrong but wanting to keep it under the rug to not upset the good thing she has. I know, it's selfish but I already mapped out when the fallout comes :)

To the rest, 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.

---

"Hmph... hmpf... hmpf... hmpf..." Penny moaned through her nose, as her mouth was filled with something else.

She let out a tiny squeal when Leonard started softly sucking on her clit, bringing it into his mouth and letting his tongue run over it. Meanwhile, Penny continued to bob her head up and down, hoping that she was giving him as much pleasure as she received. She had originally planned to get some other form of pleasure but after Leonard had pushed into her once, that idea quickly went out the window.

Today was Saturday of their free week. Although it must be said that while they did spend most of it in her new bed, too much was spent out of it. But it had been a great week. They had christened the new bed in every way, forward, backward, sideways, against it, bouncing, grinding and of course, sleeping. But of course it had come at a price, hence their current position.

She had wanted sex in the morning and as soon as she had sunk down on him, she jumped back up, her insides way too aching to take any more. Amid his repeated apologies and her saying that it was okay, she had realized that having sex four to five times a day for a week was way too much, even though she liked that particular kind of aching.

"Oh god!" Penny shouted as her thighs and abdomen started quivering in another orgasm.

She kept stroking his manhood and kept her head on his thigh while she rode it out while he continued licking her because she knew that she was prone to biting down when she climaxed and the last thing she wanted was to bite his penis... again.

"God, I really want you inside me." she whined.

"Well, you do have another hole." he laughed from below her.

"While I'm not against the idea, we won't do that during morning sex. At least not today. Only if I have a night to recover where I don't have to wear tight clothes or sit anywhere."

"Too bad. But I think you need to let me get up now, it's almost ten."

"Why?"

"Don't you remember? I have to be at the university at eleven." he said.

"Again? Don't they get the meaning of a week off?"

"The NSF doesn't. We'll get the verdict today."

"Oh." was the only thing she could reply.

During the week, Leonard had gone to the university twice. Once to help Frank and his professor with their experiment but the other time, the NSF had called him and the other guys to a hearing about their trip to the North Pole. While Sheldon had forgiven them, the NSF hadn't been thrilled after hearing that they tampered with the experiment just to make Sheldon happy. Now Leonard, Raj and Howard looked at either an acquittal, sanctions or even worse.

"Then I better finish you off before you get up." Penny said and took his manhood into her hand again.

"You don't have to. After our week, I'm sure I'm shooting dry anyway. And now that I have that anxiety about the NSF inside my head, I feel my erection receding rapidly."

"I can see that." Penny said surprised as she watched his penis shrink in her hand.

"Yeah, it's overworked." he laughed again.

"After the week we head, I understand him." she laughed back, kissed the tip one last time and got up, pulling him with her into the bathroom.

They took a shower together and cleaned each other up, using loofah and sponge very generously in places that you normally wouldn't linger when simply cleaning. Penny held up her hair as Leonard cleaned her upper back and shoulders, placing kisses on it as he did so and turned around to let her do the same.

After drying off, Leonard started taking out the clothes he had brought the night before and got dressed, while she simply put her robe on, staying naked underneath it, and went into her kitchen area to brew some coffee. Two minutes later, she almost dropped her spoon when her sweetie entered the living room, wearing a suit and tie instead of his usual attire of pants and hoodie.

"What's with the getup?" she asked as she picked her cutlery back up.

"Me and the guys agreed to dress nicely to make a good impression. Last time the NSF officials looked rather oddly at us, me in my hoodie, Raj in his four-layer clothing and Howard with his tight pants and that awful shirt that made our eyes hurt."

"The one he wore on Tuesday?" she asked and he nodded. "Yeah, that really was one ugly shirt. I thought he had hit rock bottom with the one he had on when he tried that eye patch thing, but..."

"I know. I think he realized it too at a certain point."

"He did? How?" she asked as she ate her cereal, while Leonard munched on his bun with jam, careful not to spill any on his suit.

"He asked if he could borrow my hoodie to cover his shirt up." he grinned.

"That would have been a sight to behold, Howard in a hoodie."

"What will you do today?" he asked.

"I don't know. Stopping by my agent for one and I might take two courses of yoga today. I think I need it." she grinned.

"Yoga is just a fancy form of stretching, isn't it?" he asked.

"No, it's way more than that. It's also a concentration exercise."

"If you say so." he said dubiously.

"Hey, I don't see you complaining when I show off my flexibility." she playfully admonished.

"Okay, I'm off." he said as reply and got up. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck." she replied and walked him to the door. When he opened it, they found Sheldon standing in the hallway, probably on his way to knocking on her door.

"Oh, there you are." Sheldon directed at Leonard. "I was about to get you so you won't be late."

"No need, I'm here."

"Sheldon, why aren't you fancily dressed?" Penny asked the lanky physicist.

"Why would I? I'm not going to work today, I'd rather prepare for this afternoon." came the reply. "Oh, you think because Leonard and the others have to appear in front of the NSF today? I don't have to, I already gave my deposition yesterday."

"What did you tell them?" Leonard asked.

"The truth of course. That you tampered with my experiment. What else could I have said?" Sheldon asked rhetorically and went back into his apartment.

"Man, that is going to be fun." Leonard sighed.

"Good luck again. I love you." Penny said and kissed him long and hard until he took a step back.

"I love you too."

---

"So, Doctors Hofstadter and Koothrapali and Mister Wolowitz, we have reviewed your testimonies and compared them with our impression of you and Doctor Cooper."

Leonard and the other two held their breath as they waited for the verdict to come down. The only hope they had would be the fact that the experiment had been more or less refuted Sheldon's hypothesis after two months and if Sheldon had shown them what kind of horrible person he could be. They all had said as much in their own depositions.

"And?" Howard said hesitatingly, while Leonard and Raj stayed quiet, the latter because of the two women in the five-person group behind the table.

"At first we had decided to sanction you because tampering with another scientists experiment is something we don't look kindly upon but after talking to Doctor Cooper for an hour, we decided to give you the benefit of the doubt." the chairman, Doctor Philipson, told them and all three let out a sigh of relief. "But that only happened because you, Doctor Hofstadter, have proven that Doctor Cooper's hypothesis was already disproved after eight weeks."

"Thank you." Leonard said sincerely.

"Not so fast, we're not done yet. While we won't sanction you this time, we are putting you on probation. The next time any of you go on another NSF funded expedition or do an NSF funded experiment, and we get reports of the same thing, we will punish you."

"We understand." Leonard replied.

"Good. That will be all." the chairman said and the three guys stood up. "Doctor Hofstadter, a word in private please?"

"Sure." Leonard said apprehensively as the other two walked out the room and the other four NSF people followed them.

"Relax." the man said. "I was wondering, would you be able to attend a black tie event on short notice? Your work in light refraction made some generous people notice and it would be a great opportunity for your to maybe get more experiments."

"How short is short notice?" Leonard asked.

"Tonight, eight pm at the Langham Huntington."

"That's convenient. Less than five miles from my home."

"Oh good. Then you won't have to stay the night."

"I think the Langham is quite above my budget anyway." Leonard laughed. "Although my girlfriend would have jumped at the chance to use their spa. And make me use it as well."

"Well, the offer stands."

"I will ask her. Though I think she will say yes to a free spa evening."

"Good. I'll see you at the party then. Maybe have a light dinner before, we only offer some finger food."

"Will do. Thank you Doctor Philipson." Leonard said and shook the man's hand before leaving and taking out his phone as he walked through the empty corridors. He quickly dialed Penny's number.

"Hey sweetie, how's the trial going?" he heard his girlfriend through the speaker.

"It wasn't a trial, it was a hearing. And they let us go without punishment after talking to Sheldon alone yesterday. We only got probation, that if something like this ever happens again, we're getting sanctioned."

"Well, that's easy, just don't go on another expedition with Sheldon." Penny laughed.

"There's another reason for my call. Do you have the evening free tonight?"

"Yeah, why?"

"The chairman of the NSF group asked me to attend a black tie event tonight at eight at the Langham Huntington. It's to meet potential donors and sponsors for new experiments and expeditions."

"Oh, and you need me as arm candy?" he heard her ask but also heard her grin.

"Pretty much." he egged her on. "But seriously, do you have a dress for such an event?"

"I'm sure I can find something."

"At least shoes won't be a problem."

"Hey!" she admonished. "What else is there tonight? Just schmoozing up or dinner, dancing, what?"

"They offer only finger food, so we might get some light dinner in tonight unless finger food is enough."

"I think it'll be enough. Anything else?" she asked him.

"Yeah, the NSF booked most of the hotel for the entire evening and night for those attendees that need to spend the night. And they made the spa part available for everyone." he hesitated.

"REALLY?" she shouted through the phone, making him take it off his ear and holding it away from his head a few inches. "What do they offer?"

"I have no idea. If you're home, check their internet presence. I'm on my way back home, should I pick something up for lunch?"

"Yeah sure."

"Any preferences?"

"No, just pick something up, you know what I like."

"Okay. See you in half an hour." he said and hung up the phone.

---

"So, I checked out what the hotel offers that we're going tonight." Penny said over her spaghetti that Leonard had picked up from that little Italian place they had already had a date in.

"And? What will you make me do or suffer through?"

"Hey, it's not that bad. They have saunas, steam rooms, massages and the works. But it says on the site that they close those areas at eight pm."

"I think the NSF convinced them to have them remain open longer for that evening. But I think it will only be for those offers that don't involve someone from the staff, like the saunas."

"So, how will this work? It's only roughly five miles from here to there. Are we going home after the evening?" Penny asked him.

"Doctor Philipson, who was the chairman of the inquiry board and who invited me, said that there should be enough rooms booked for every attendee. So we could decide on the fly. If we would only do the black tie event itself, we wouldn't have to stay at all but if you really want to get some of the spa stuff in as well, a room might be more prudent."

"As an added bonus, no Sheldon." she added.

"That's right." he laughed. "So, what do you say?"

"What do you wanna do?"

"You know I don't really care for that spa stuff but I know you like it, so if you want, I'll go with you."

"Then yes, I would very much like to do some of that."

"Very well. We should head out at seven-thirty then. Plenty of time to get there."

"Okay." she smiled happily, already picking out the dress she would be wearing tonight in her head.

"Well, then I will leave you to your busy afternoon of stretching while I head over to my place for the guys afternoon." he grinned and washed his plate.

"Mind if I join you when I'm back?"

"Not at all." he said and came back to her to give her a kiss. "See you later then."

"Bye Leonard." she called behind him and watched him leave.

She cleaned her own plate and went into her bedroom to pick the dress out of the closet. Since she had already chosen it in her head, all she needed to do was take it out and lay it down on the bed. Next she grabbed her overnight bag and put a change of clothes into it, underwear, a shirt, pants, socks and a light jacket if the need arose.

At last, she took her gym bag and packed it for her yoga afternoon. Some yoga pants, a good fitting shirt, a towel plus some essential toiletries went into it before she took off her sweatpants and sweatshirt and changed into some brown pants and a yellow shirt with enough cleavage to show off what she had without giving anyone an invitation. Ten minutes later, she was on her way to the gym.

---

Close to six pm, she finally arrived back home, her muscles stretched and relaxed after two hours of yoga or, as Leonard called it, fancy stretching. But no matter what anyone would call it, she felt a lot better compared to the morning. She put her used yoga clothes into her laundry basket for the next load and headed back towards the living room and out of the apartment before entering Leonard's place without knocking where she found Sheldon in his usual spot, Leonard on the other side of the couch with a free space between them, Howard in Leonard's armchair and Raj on the wooden chair, all watching TV.

"Hi, guys." she greeted the group. "Hi, honey." she directed at Leonard and gave him a kiss before sitting on the armrest on the couch.

"Ooh, we're honey now, are we?" Howard asked.

"Yes." Sheldon replied before she could say something. "Since their relationship became carnal, Penny has upgraded his designated term of endearment, thus distinguishing him from those she calls sweetie, usually in an attempt to soften a thinly-veiled insult." he rambled on.

"You're boring people sweetie." she directed at him.

"Although, sometimes she omits the veil entirely." Sheldon huffed.

"You want to tell them?" she whispered to her sweetie.

"If you want but I enjoy Howard's continuing disbelief way too much." Leonard whispered back.

"So, what are you guys doing?" she asked in general.

"Celebrating Columbus Day." came from Howard.

"We're watching Goonies, Gremlins and Young Sherlock Holmes." Leonard added with a grin and noticed her confused look. "They were all written by Chris Columbus." he clarified.

"Okay. What do you watch on Thanksgiving?"

"The parade." Sheldon said, matter of fact.

"Oh, you know, that reminds me, I usually go back to Nebraska for thanksgiving, but this year they're calling it off on account of my brother's trial." she told the group.

"What's he on trial for?" Leonard asked.

"Oh, just a big misunderstanding. You know, you'd actually like my brother, he's kind of a chemist." she replied, thinking that this was a better way of saying that her brother cooked meth, quite unsuccessfully. "Anyway, I was thinking I'd have thanksgiving here, and you are all invited."

"Oh. I'll be there." Leonard said enthusiastically, not that she didn't expect that.

"Will you be serving cranberry jelly or cranberry sauce?" Sheldon inquired.

"I guess I could serve both." she told him.

"You guess? You don't seem to have much of a handle on this." Sheldon huffed again and stood up.

"Yeah, I really wish I could, Penny, but every year my mother has all the relatives over and cooks up her famous tur-briska-fil." Howard replied to her question.

"Tur-briska-fil?"

"Turkey stuffed with a brisket stuffed with gefilte fish. It's not as good as it sounds."

"Let me get this straight." Penny said, shaking her head. "For Thanksgiving, your mother grounds up fish, stuffs that into a slab of beef and in turn, stuffs that into a turkey?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Howard answered.

"So I guess, when you celebrate Thanksgiving with her, you're thankful that you survived it without a heart attack."

"It's not that bad."

"Anyway, Raj, what about you?" she directed at the Indian sitting silently on the wooden chair.

"Oh, he usually comes to my house. Right, pal?" Howard replied for him upon which Raj burst into tears and ran into the bathroom."All right, this year, you don't have to eat the tur-briska-fil! Howard shouted after him and turned around again. "I don't even chew it. I swallow it like pills."

"What's gotten into him?" Leonard asked no one in particular.

"That should be fairly easy to find out." Sheldon pointed out. "Since the timing of his breakdown was right after Howard's declaration about his mother's dreadful culinary experiments, he might have gotten painfully constipated when hearing about what his body would have to endure."

"Sheldon, you again show your unique way of insulting my mother's cooking." Howard stated with a glare.

"Then what else could it be?"

"Here's an idea." Penny interjected. "Go and ask him."

"That's another way to do it, I suppose." Sheldon murmured while Howard walked towards the bathroom.

"So, that means, it'll be only the three of us on Thanksgiving?" Penny asked Leonard and Sheldon.

"If you don't invite some other friends of yours, pretty much." Leonard answered.

"I'm sorry, but if you're not even sure what kind of sauce you're going to serve than I'd rather eat on my own." Sheldon said without even looking at her.

"Fine. Leonard, we're having Thanksgiving dinner at my place, just the two of us. And frankly, it's the best outcome since we're not going to my parents for that."

"Too bad about that. I'd have liked to have seen your parents again."

"Yeah. Tornado misses you too."

"Is he still tame?"

"Yes. Daddy uses him as a stud and went into horse breeding. You should see the farm with the thermal thing you recommended and those gigantic wind turbines."

"Maybe we could go next year again."

"Yeah, I'd like that." Penny smiled.

"Excuse me?" Sheldon asked, having overheard parts of what they were saying. "Leonard, how do you know what her parent's farm looks like? Is there something you haven't told me?"

"There's a lot of stuff I didn't tell you?" Leonard laughed.

"Then tell me now."

"Sheldon, I thought you're a genius, how do you think Leonard knows what my parent's farm looks like?" Penny asked and watched Sheldon go deep into contemplation, looking from her to Leonard and back to her.

"It's so obvious." he waved his arm. "How couldn't I have seen that sooner. You showed him pictures during one of those evenings where you kept him at your apartment so long that he fell asleep on the couch."

"I don't believe it." Leonard murmured and let his head fall on the couch just as Howard came out of the bathroom. "So, what's going on with Raj?"

"Well, the good news is, he has no problem with my mother's tur-brka-fil." Howard tried to lighten the mood. "The bad news is, he says he's getting deported."

"What do you mean, he's getting deported?" Leonard inquired.

"I believe it means that the U.S. Government is going to expel him from the country. He could then either return to his native India, emigrate to another country that's willing to accept him, or wander the high seas as a stateless pirate. Personally, I'd choose pirate." Sheldon rambled again.

"Penny, would you mind stepping outside so we can speak to him?" Howard asked her.

"Ugh, fine. But the man really needs to work on his girl issues." she huffed and got up and went out into the hallway, closing the door behind her and putting her ear to it to eavesdrop on the guys.

While she heard them talking about Raj's research flaming out, she thought about Sheldon's ignorance. It must be willful because Leonard clearly said that he would have liked to meet her parents again. Again! Not for the first time. Yet Sheldon didn't act on that at all and just went for the easiest route. She couldn't decide if he didn't acknowledge it because he genuinely didn't know or for some other reason. Or maybe he didn't hear everything Leonard or her had said.

"Okay, guys, think, how do we keep Raj in the country?" she heard Howard say loudly and than there was just quiet.

"Why doesn't he just get another job?" she shouted through the door, which opened a few seconds later.

"I think you need to get into your apartment." Leonard told her. "Raj doesn't know if he can speak or not knowing that you can hear us."

"What, seriously?"

"Yeah. But hey, we need to leave soon anyway. So, prepare yourself and I will pick you up in forty-five minutes."

"Okay, see you then." she said and kissed him before heading into her own apartment.

She went directly into her bedroom and undressed. After putting on a thong, she threw the dress over her body and optimized its fit before going into the bathroom to spruce up her makeup. Leonard had told her numerous times that he found her beautiful without makeup or with very little but tonight she wanted to make a good impression on the people who'd give him money. After finishing with that, she brushed her teeth and gargled with some mouth wash to get rid of any bad breath she might have. Last, she put on the diamond necklace that Leonard had made himself and given her.

To pass the time, she pulled up her dress and sat down on her chair as to not wrinkle the back of the dress and took up a magazine, too lazy to boot up her laptop. She still had twenty minutes to spare and tried to think of something she might have forgotten to pack into her overnight bag. She took it and checked the contents again, not finding anything missing.

"Holy shit." Leonard's voice came from behind her. "You will make a big impression, I'm sure of it."

"I take it you approve of my dress?" she grinned and looked him up and down, all handsome in his tuxedo, complete with bow tie.

"Approve? I want to rip it off you right now and make love to you all night."

"We can still do that. But I'm getting hungry and you promised me finger food."

"Penny." Leonard whined.

"No complaining. Lets go." she laughed and took his hand, leading him out of the apartment and down the stairs where a cab waited for them.

After they got into the backseats, the driver drove off and Leonard put his hand on Penny's leg, starting to gently rub over her thigh. Her arousal rose with every second he did that and she wondered how she was supposed to last the entire evening without jumping his bones. Luckily, the drive ended after only ten minutes and Penny exited the cab in almost indecent haste.

Leonard paid the driver, took out their overnight bags and offered Penny his arm which she gladly took. They walked up to the entrance and after Leonard said his name, they were let inside. They went straight to the cloakroom where they handed their bags to the young man behind the counter and received a chit in return to get them later before they went into the ballroom where the event was held.

Penny gazed in wonder at the elegant opulence of the room and let her eyes roam over the other people present. There must have been at least a hundred others, all dressed in fine clothing, the men in suits and tuxes like Leonard and the woman in dresses ranging from moderate to extravagant, making her feel slightly exposed given the cut and shortness of her dress. Both took a champagne flute from the tray that a waiter held out for each arriving guest. They clinked their glasses and took a sip without ever stopping to look into each others eyes.

"Ah, Doctor Hofstadter, there you are." a man approached them with a slightly younger looking brunette on his arm.

"Doctor Philipson, I hope we weren't late." Leonard replied.

"This is my wife Sheila." he introduced the woman.

"Misses Philipson." Leonard greeted her.

"Please, call me Sheila. When people call me misses Philipson, I feel older than I already am." the woman replied, making Penny like her immediately.

"This is my girlfriend Penny." Leonard introduced. "I'm Leonard."

"Henry." Doctor Philipson told them his first name. "Leonard, I mentioned your name to an acquaintance of mine and he is very eager to meet you."

"Really? Who is it?" Leonard asked.

"Come with me." Henry said and led them across the room to a rather timid looking older man with a much younger woman at his side, giving Penny the stereotype of the billionaire and half as old mattress warmer. "Mister Gerard, I'd like you to meet Doctor Leonard Hofstadter, the man you told me about."

"Ah, doctor Hofstadter, it's so nice to finally meet you." came the reply from the man and his eyes fell on Penny. "And who is this lovely young lady?"

"This is my girlfriend Penny." Leonard said proudly.

"And this is my daughter Stephanie." he introduced the younger woman and the group exchanged handshakes.

"I was told you wanted to talk to me." Leonard started.

"Yes. I was very impressed with the results of your experiment you did with my diamonds."

"You were the client?"

"Yes. And since your results have great implications for my company's future, I wanted to offer you funding for another experiment."

"I'm elated that you think that highly of me but shouldn't you discuss this with the university?" Leonard asked.

"I will. But I wanted to clear it with you because it might take a lot of time."

"What would that experiment entail? I thought you already had good results about the laser adjustments."

"I have. What I want my company to achieve is the next step. Right now we're expanding on the market for medical appliances but I want you to research the next step."

"The next step in...?" Leonard inquired.

"Use of lasers in industrial capacities. More than they are used now. Imagine being able to cut tunnels through mountains without weeks or months of using drilling machines. My question is, would that be possible?"

"Well, you need an adequate power source for a laser of this scale but the main problem is finding a crystal because you can't simply make a diamond with a foot-wide diameter to focus the laser through and it has to be clear enough for the beam not to fragment after a few feet..."

At this point, Penny zoned out and started walking around a bit, looking at the decor and watching other people interact with each other. She noticed who was someone with money to give and who was trying to get it by their body language and wondered if she could ever stoop so low as to beg for money using fancy words.

What made her feel a bit better was the fact that she wasn't the only one here to not understand what the scientists were talking about. She passed groups of women gossiping about other groups and some things she heard made her feel like a genius herself, making her shake her head at some of the women because they gave the term stupid blonde a whole new meaning.

She went to the buffet table and grabbed a plate, loading it up with several pieces for her and Leonard while she sipped at her champagne. She took several pieces of shrimp, some pieces of chicken and a lot of vegetables before taking the plate in her free hand and walking back towards Leonard who was in deep conversation with a young and stunningly beautiful woman, making her hurry up to get back to his side.

"I'm telling you, it's the only way." she heard him say, making her heart beat faster at her imagination of him planning how to cheat on her.

"But how would someone travel faster than light? The theory of relativity prevents that." the woman countered and Penny relaxed immediately.

"Of course, humanity would have to either send out sleeper ships hoping that they arrive at a new planet after a few hundred years or develop means to travel faster than light outside of real space."

"But how should that work?" the woman asked. "I have seen numerous version of FTL travel in all those science fictions shows."

"I have no idea how it would work, it's not my field. But yeah, there are a lot of imaginative ideas out there already."

"What are you two talking about?" Penny asked as she reached them and held out the plate for Leonard after kissing him on the cheek.

"Faster than light travel and how future humans would achieve it, since we need to get out of our system if we want to survive as a species." Leonard replied.

"Oh, like on Star Wars." Penny grinned.

"Actually, they have the worst example because they never explain how that works." the woman said. "Oh sorry, I'm Caitlin."

"Penny." Penny introduced herself. "Are you a scientist too?"

"Yes. I'm a biochemist."

"Oh okay." Penny said hesitatingly, feeling inferior already. "So, what's this about Star Wars?" she asked, wanting to get away from the subject of the scientific degrees.

"In Star Wars, they never explain how their faster than light travel works." Leonard started. "They simply fly faster than light."

"And the other universes did explain it?" Penny asked.

"Yeah. Somewhat and sometimes even plausible." Caitlin took up the mantle. "You need something to make it believable. In Warhammer 40k, they travel through warp space with a bubble of reality around them. In Babylon 5, they have hyperspace that is apart from real space. In Stargate, it's subspace. In Battletech, their jumpships rip holes into reality and appear thirty light years away before having to recharge the drive for a week. And so on."

"Oh, you mean like in Star Trek, where they a bubble of real time around them when they are in Warp Speed to prevent the time paradox." Penny said proudly and noticed both Leonard and Caitlin staring at her. "What? I can learn things when I watch stuff."

"You know, when you talk like that, I want to take you right here on the salad bar." Leonard said with a grin.

"And I would take you right after." Caitlin added. "But I think my girlfriend would object to that."

"Girlfriend?" Penny asked. "So, you're...?"

"A lesbian? Yeah I am. Why? You have a problem with that?"

"No, I don't." Penny said and meant it, feeling more relief than anything else, since Caitlin wouldn't be interested in Leonard.

The rest of the evening went by with rather more tedium, since Leonard talked to a few more people about things Penny didn't understand which had her simply standing at his side being arm candy, like she jokingly referred to herself as. But she smiled along as Leonard confidently talked about the things he knew best, even landing another future commitment from a wealthy donor that would benefit the university as a whole but his department most, although it would be overseen by the NSF.

"So, I think we should retire to the part of the evening you want to do, huh?" Leonard asked with a grin as she watched the room empty.

"Yeah. I had to suffer through mind-numbing talks, now you get to suffer through mind-numbing heat." she grinned.

"Well, since I get to see you naked, I think I can bear it." he grinned back.

"You do realize that there are other people around us as well?" she asked with a pointed look.

"Well, since I get so see you wrapped in a towel, I think I can bear it." he corrected, making her laugh.

Arm in arm, they went to the receptionist and after giving the man his credentials, Leonard received the key for a room for two in the second floor. They got their overnight bags back from the cloakroom and walked up the two flights of stairs before walking to their room. Leonard opened it and led her inside where they deposited their bags on the bed.

Both quickly changed out of their clothes, Leonard pausing as Penny pulled the straps of her dress from her shoulders and shimmied out of it, letting it fall to the floor and standing in front of him dressed in nothing but a thong.

"Do we really have to do the spa part?" Leonard asked hopeful.

"Yes." she simply replied with a wink and put on the pants and shirt she had packed, making him change into some more comfortable clothes as well.

Since they knew from the internet description that the hotel offered complementary bathrobes and towels, they only took their shower gel with them. After getting into the basement, where the saunas were located, they parted to go into the respective dressing rooms where both changed out of their clothes and into the robes before exiting the rooms on the other side to enter the sauna area.

About two dozen people were walking around and lying on the various deck chairs, resting after their own sauna sessions. Leonard and Penny took off their robes, revealing towels covering their respective sexual parts and headed into the hot sauna where an older man with a round stomach was carrying a bucket with a ladle into.

They placed their sauna towels on the middle row of the wooden benches and sat down on it, waiting for the other people who wanted to use it to get in. After everyone was seated, the older man closed the door and sat down on the second row as well, right in front of the oven and lifted a filled ladle to the hot stones.

Penny could smell the herbal scent of the water even where she was sitting but was unprepared for the blow of hot air hitting her body after the ladle was empty. The scent went directly into her sinuses, as strong as if she had pulverized the strongest fisherman's friend there was and snorted it into her nose before putting another dozen into her mouth.

The old man waited two minutes before pouring a second ladle of water onto the stones, the expected blow of hot air not as bad as the first. He waited another three minutes before adding a third ladle, the hot air making the glass door fog up and bidding the occupants goodbye before leaving the sauna, leaving the people to sweat profusely. Penny could only imagine how hot it must be for the folks in the top row when she was sweating like this in the second.

One after the other, the others left until only she and Leonard remained. After making sure that nobody was on the way to come in, she discarded her towel and heard Leonard groan, who also had discarded his towel. She looked over and watched his manhood grow hard, smiling at the reaction to her simply revealing her body.

For five more minutes, they enjoyed the heat, at least Penny did. Leonard probably bore it with stoicism and she waited until the hourglass was done before they went out of the sauna again. Both went into a shower stall each and let the cold water run over them, breathing loudly as it leeched the heat out of their bodies.

They dried themselves off and put on their robes before heading into the quiet area with the deck chairs. She led him towards the back and got into one of the chairs, Leonard lying down into the one next to her. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the quiet, accentuated by the soft music playing in the background.

"It's beautiful here, isn't it?" she asked Leonard quietly.

"Yes. But before you get your hopes up, I don't think we could afford frequent stays here." he replied.

During the next thirty minutes, the area emptied out, the other people going to the showers until Penny was alone with Leonard. Not wanting to leave already without taking at least one more offering, she tapped him on the arm and moved to get up.

"Come on, we're going to go into the steam room before they close it." she said and held out her hand for him to take.

She pulled him up and led him towards the steam room that was situated around the corner behind the sauna they had been in before. As they closed, they noticed a sign on the door.

"Attention: the light inside the steam room is broken but otherwise it works." Leonard read aloud.

"Doesn't bother me. Lets go inside." Penny said and opened the door, discarding her robe before stepping into the room completely naked.

Since there was nobody around anymore, Leonard had no problem disrobing himself before stepping into the room where Penny was using the shower head on the porcelain chairs build into the wall. While the rule was to do that before leaving the steam room, she didn't want to risk a former user having forgotten that.

Leonard sat down on the chair the left of the door, which was about three feet away from the entrance, making it almost impossible for someone from the outside seeing him without putting his or her head on the glass door. Penny sat down right next to him, smiling and shaking her head at his behavior. While he didn't have the most buff body, he cleaned up nicely and Penny got hot every time when seeing him naked. As she stretched and ran her hand over her wet legs, stomach and breasts, she noticed his manhood growing again.

"You know, I find it greatly boosting my ego to see your big buddy growing just because I'm naked." she grinned.

"That's not all. But when you run your hands over your body and moan like that, I can't help it."

"Well, we are alone." she said seductively and saw him swallow hard in the little light that was coming on from the outside.

"Are we?" he swallowed hard.

Instead of answering, Penny scooted to the other side a little and bent her body down until her head was in his lap. She grinned at his sharp breath intake and kissed the tip of his manhood before putting her lips around it. She suckled at it for a minute, enjoying every moan that came out of his throat, before letting her head sink down slowly.

"What if someone comes inside?" Leonard panted, making Penny lift her head again but only with lips pressed together so he would feel their passing.

"Want me to stop?" she asked after releasing him with a plop, knowing exactly what the answer would be by the look in his eyes.

"Hell no!" came the expected reply but what she didn't thought of was his hand pushing her down hard.

She managed to line her head up with his manhood and got him inside as he pushed her head further until her lips reached his base. Luckily he stopped at that moment, otherwise she might have gagged immediately because of the fast speed making her unable to loosen her throat. As he let his hand rest on the back of her head, she took over the movements, bobbing up and down, moaning as she did.

Her own moans surprised her the most. She had watched clips of porn, having them found plentiful on Howard's laptop that he had once left running in the guys' apartment and she had wondered why women would moan when blowing a guy. As she pleasured him and heard him groan, she realized how far she had come in that regard. At the beginning of it she had done it rather reluctantly but now she couldn't wait to do it when they did foreplay.

She pushed her head down and kept it there, relaxing her throat before starting to swallow and letting the contracting tissue massage his tip, knowing that he loved the feeling. A loud moan accompanied his lap pushing upwards, trying to get even deeper into her mouth. She repeated the motion and repeated it again, and again, and again until she simply had to lift her head simply to draw a deep breath.

"Wow, I think that was a new record." she panted.

"Record?" he asked confused.

"How long I was able to keep your big buddy all inside my mouth." she continued, while stroking him.

"You kept count?"

"Yeah, thirty-two seconds." she said proudly.

"It might be my imagination but I think you already lasted longer doing that."

"Maybe when I count in my head, I can't last as long." she suggested.

"Maybe. But could you continue please?" he pleaded and with a grin she complied, lowering her upper body again but before she could take him in once more, a knock on the glass door interrupted them, making her sit up sharply and Leonard cover his erect manhood.

"Is there someone in there?" a female voice asked them.

"Yes, is there a problem?" Penny called out, not wanting the woman to open the door and see Leonard and especially not his manhood which luckily for now was shrinking rapidly thanks to the interruption.

"We're closing the spa area in ten minutes, I'd like to ask you to end your current session." the woman called into the room.

"Okay. We're out in a minute."

"Thank you." the woman said and shut down the steam room before leaving them alone.

"Come one sweetie, lets go."

"All these CBOs really start to annoy me." Leonard sighed.

"CBOs?"

"Cock Blocker Others." he clarified, making her laugh. "First the NSF thing, now this."

"Poor sweetie." she said, still laughing. "We'll just have to finish in the hotel room then."

They came out the steam room and headed to their respective showers, taking their robes and towels with them. Both hurried with their showers and got dressed in their casual clothes again, depositing the used robes and towels into the baskets placed at the doors of the dressing room for the clean-up crew to pick up and as they left the spa area, the woman who had called them out locked the door behind them after taking their used towels and robes.

Leonard quickly pulled them up the two flights of stairs, passing a few people walking the halls and headed straight into their room. Before Penny could even click on the light, she was almost thrown on the bed and felt Leonard follow her, laying down on top of her and connecting their lips together.

Leonard let his tongue dive deep into her mouth, pressing her own back and Penny responded to his hips grinding into her by pushing up her own. She felt him grow rapidly again, the fact that she had blown him twice without any kind of finish evident in his obvious impatience. During their make-out, Leonard's hands went down her body and pushed her pants and panties off her and did the same with his own lower apparel until they were both dressed in only a shirt. Leonard lifted his body up and pulled her with him, taking off his shirt and almost ripping hers off her.

"Wow, someone's really..." she started but was silenced by his mouth again before she could voice the word 'eager'.

Still kissing her, he spread her legs and lined himself up before pushing into her without any hesitation. Both groaned into each others mouths at the contact while Leonard wasted no time and started pounding her hard, his frustration evident in his urgency. Penny tried to wrap her arms around him but he pushed them up and held them down.

After a few minutes, he let go of her arms and Penny prepared herself to change their position, thinking that she might get to be on top now. But Leonard simply grabbed her legs and bent them upwards until her knees were on her shoulders before he held her arms back down again. Now she was completely at his mercy and as she was getting pounded hard for two minutes turning into twenty, she felt the whole thing to be strangely arousing. It underlined another thing with Leonard, his way of making her feel comfortable when he took absolute control like this, which he did only rarely.

"Oh god, fuck me harder!" she shouted and he complied, pounding into her with renewed vigor, their skin slapping together in rapid repetition and the bedsprings squeaking loudly with every thrust, showing every adjacent neighbor what was going on, even if her outburst hadn't been enough.

She climaxed with a primal scream, almost biting into his shoulder as she tried to muffle it at least a bit. A few seconds into her twitching, he spilled as well with a relieved groan and emptied himself with several strong thrusts. His head fell next to hers on the bed and she could hear him breath hard, a testament to the lovemaking they just did.

He let go of her and got up, pulling her behind him into the bathroom to clean up. They both brushed their teeth and headed back out to get back into bed. Penny snuggled into his body and slung her head over his lower body and her arm over his chest.

"That was amazing." she said and moaned in satisfaction.

"Thanks. You were amazing too for letting me do this. I know how much you like to be in control."

"I must say, whenever you take charge like that, I get even more aroused. So feel free to manhandle me again some day." she grinned.

"I might take you up on that. I know where you put the handcuffs." he winked and held her tighter.

She smiled into his skin and closed her eyes as he shut off the lamp on the nightstand and pulled the comforter over them. She couldn't believe her luck because simply by accident and his merits, he had scored them a free evening with a spa component that again ended in satisfying lovemaking. If only there wasn't that dark cloud of guilt hanging over head but she decided for now to leave it be.

---

Penny was woken up by Leonard turning her around and getting up. She opened her eyes to watch him stumble into the bathroom in the dim light of dawn filtering through the windows. As she heard him relieve himself, she checked the time on her phone and found to be a few minutes before six am.

She closed her eyes again and heard the toilet flush before her sweetie stumbled back into the room, his tired murmuring making her smile as he got back into bed and molded himself to her back, throwing one arm around her waist and holding her tight. She soon fell asleep again.

When she woke up again, daylight came through the window and although she wanted nothing more than to stay in his arms, her bladder made that notion pretty hard to accomplish. She wiggled out of Leonard's grasp and saw him turn on his back, his eyes opening slowly as she walked into the bathroom. She relieved herself and rinsed out her mouth with some mouthwash to get rid of the worst effect of her morning breath and returned to the bedroom, where a tired looking Leonard smiled at her, his morning wood visible where the covers had fallen off his body.

"What?" she asked him.

"You're beautiful." he said earnestly.

"Thank you." she smiled and walked slowly towards the bed.

Instead of simply laying down, she pushed the covers entirely off him and crawled to his crotch. She had no idea why, but when seeing him naked, she felt an overwhelming urge to give him pleasure in every possible way so she did what she knew would work and took his manhood into her mouth.

"Holy shit!" Leonard exclaimed as his head smashed into the cushion while Penny went down on him.

She didn't start with slow movements but bobbed her head rapidly up and down, letting her tongue roam freely around the tip and pressing her lips as hard together as possible. His groaning and hard breathing told her that was doing a good job and she felt him twitch inside her mouth. Her head came down again and she held it down, swallowing and letting her constricting throat muscles take over the pleasuring.

His hips bucked upwards, telling her in no small terms that he appreciated her actions and she repeated it again and again, keeping her head down until she proudly realized that she was able to suppress her gag reflex for longer than she was able to draw enough breath through her nose upon which she released him with a plop and took a deep gulp of air.

"Fuck, that was awesome." Leonard exclaimed. "And you shattered your record."

"What?" she asked confused.

"Forty-five seconds. I counted in my head."

"Wow. I wonder why I had such difficulties achieving even thirty-two yesterday in the steam room."

"Maybe because you concentrate on the count instead of just doing it. Like me and that position that has you falling off the bed."

"I never thought about it that way." she said. "So, my good doctor, how would you like to get finished. You have the choice of me continuing what I was doing until you can't hold it in anymore or me crawling forward and mounting you so I can ride you until you beg me for mercy."

"No please, I couldn't take you riding me." he said in mock fear.

"Well, then I just have to do it." she grinned and scooted forward until she was over his crotch.

She lifted herself up and sunk down on him, the familiar feeling of her insides welcoming him shooting up her spine. Despite having felt him a few hours before, she had missed it all morning, as she started moving up and down, his shaft moving along her inner walls. The audible squishing sound showed both of them how hot she was for him even if the complete lack of resistance wasn't enough.

She put her hands on his chest and started moving forward and back, her hips grinding strongly and the bed hammering against the wall. That was something that surprised Penny for a second until she realized that they weren't in her bed but in a hotel room. For a fleeting moment she worried that it might wake other people, especially those in the adjacent room but as her climax ripped through her, she couldn't care less anymore.

She continued to ride him, alternating the grinding movements with bouncing and after just over twenty minutes, Leonard climaxed as well, letting her finally collapse on his chest, her goal reached. She panted for a minute or two, catching her breath after her exertion and felt him rub his hands over her back in a silent thank you.

"How long can we stay in the room before we have to leave?" she asked.

"We have to be out by ten." he replied and took her phone, activating the screen to look at the time. "So we have... crap, only twenty minutes to get washed up and out of here."

"So, I guess shower sex is out of the question." she grinned as she sat up again, his manhood still inside her although not erect.

"It would have been anyway." he smiled back and let her go so she could get up.

He followed her into the bathroom and both stepped into the shower stall. They cleaned each others hard to reach places and dried each other off after stepping out, Leonard brushing his teeth first, followed by her after which he shooed her out of the room so he could use the toilet.

Penny packed their used clothes into their overnight bags and got dressed in her brown pants and yellow shirt. Leonard came out of the bathroom and put on his usual clothes, again involving a hoodie despite the fact that it would be quite warm today and after putting the bags over their shoulders, they left the room.

"So, you were the ones waking up half the floor with that relentless banging." a grinning Sheila said to them, who had just left the adjacent room, followed by her husband.

"Um..." Penny started, not knowing what to say.

"It's okay, I was young once." Sheila laughed and left them standing rooted to the spot.

Beet red, Leonard and Penny left the hotel and got into a cab, giving their address to the driver and leaning into the seats until the short ride was over. They entered their building and went up the stairs but before any of them could enter their respective apartment, Sheldon exited his.

"Leonard, where have you been?" Sheldon asked, slightly agitated.

"I was at a NSF fundraiser last night at the Langham hotel. Didn't I tell you and wasn't me coming out of my room in a tuxedo not sign enough?"

"No, you didn't and no, it wasn't. What were you doing at a NSF fundraiser and why didn't you return last night?"

"I was asked to attend by Doctor Philipson, who you know, and Penny wanted to use the sauna so we stayed the night, since it was already paid for."

"And were you successful?" Sheldon asked and crossed his arms.

"Yes. Got private funding a new series of experiments plus possible follow ups depending on the results." Leonard replied with a smile.

"What makes you think Doctor Gablehauser will agree to let you do these experiments?"

"Because the university gets money and prestige."

"We will see about that." Sheldon huffed and went back inside.

"What's going on with him?" Penny asked.

"I have no idea. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was jealous because nobody in the private sector pays for theoretical research into a so far unprovable science."

"What's the plan for today?" she asked.

"Given that it's Sunday before Thanksgiving, vintage video game day. I guess the guys will arrive soon. You want to join us?"

"No, but thank you. I think I will spend the day binge-watching some of my shows. And before I forget, you make some time next Tuesday."

"What for?"

"Grocery shopping for Thanksgiving of course. It might be just the two of us but I want to to be nice."

"At least we don't need a turkey."

"Yeah, a chicken is enough."

"What gives? I thought you were a vegetarian?" Leonard asked confused.

"I think I turned more into a lazy vegetarian." she replied.

"What is that?"

"Since the animal is already dead, I'd rather eat it than see it thrown away and wasted."

"Okay..." he said slowly but anything more was interrupted by his roommate.

"Leonard, what's taking you so long? Get in here so we can start the first came until Wolowitz and Koothrapali arrive."

"I guess I should better head inside." Leonard said dejected.

"Yeah. Bye sweetie. I love you."

"I love you too." he smiled and gave her a kiss before they parted and she returned into her own apartment.

She closed the door and took the dress out of the bag to straighten it out and hang it back into her closet. After that, she returned into the living room, got a bowl of snacks and a few bottles of various beverages and started watching some of her favorite shows.

---

Apart from dinner, she didn't see Leonard the entire rest of the Sunday and since he had to get up early to go to work on Monday while she needed to sleep in for her dinner shift, they didn't see each other on Monday as well, making her a bit sad although the effect was lessened in the knowledge that they would be going shopping soon.

Now they were sitting in his car on their way to the nearest mall for grocery shopping although Penny planned to get him to go shopping for a few more non-edible items as well. If her oral arguments didn't work, she'd simply walk towards the nearest lingerie store and he'd surely follow.

"Okay, we're here." Leonard said after parking the car.

"Lets browse a bit before we head to the supermarket." she suggested and put her arm through his.

"You really want to go shopping?" he asked.

"Sure, why not?"

"Because it's Black Friday in three days, everything will be a lot cheaper then."

"Fine, lets make a deal. You come with me to Black Friday and we won't shop today." she suggested and heard him groan.

"Fine. Lucky for you that Friday is voluntary work day at the university."

"Voluntary work day?"she asked as Leonard grabbed a shopping cart and she followed him into the market.

"Yes. The university doesn't require you to come to work so you don't have to take a day off but if you want to work, they won't stop you and even pay you. Some departments even have to work because of running experiments. I'm pretty sure Sheldon and Raj will go to work. Howard will probably stay with his mom."

"Then we can spend the day together and have a little peace without Sheldon." she said happily.

"That we can." he agreed and put the first item on her shopping list into the cart.

"By the way, I totally forgot, what's going on with Raj and his job search?"

"He had a chance to work with another professor but somehow screwed that up, he said it was maybe because of the professor being British and him being Indian but somehow I don't believe that."

"And now?"

"Now he's working with Sheldon. He hired Raj today to work on Dark Matter research with him. That's the reason by the way that Sheldon won't be at home on Friday and since I don't have to drive him anymore, I can come home earlier than usual."

"Want to bet the number of days it will take for them to shout at each other?" she asked with a grin.

"No, because I will lose anyway. Since I'm used to Sheldon because I live with him, I would pick a way too high number of days." he replied.

They continued shopping for almost half an hour, chatting about trivial things and during that time, Penny noticed a few people whose faces she remembered from the gym she sometimes frequented. She nodded greetings to the females and saw the males staring at her in confusion when they watched her arm in arm with Leonard.

She was really tired of guys like them. They simply assumed that because Leonard was short and not as buff as them, he wasn't worthy of a girlfriend like her and that infuriated her. Not only because it was demeaning to Leonard but also insulting to her because they thought that she just had to have a boyfriend who looked like them and they most likely envisioned themselves being that boyfriend.

While they were standing in the cash-out line, she made sure to have her arm around his waist at all times, showing those guys that any thoughts about them replacing Leonard were for naught. Leonard paid for the groceries and pushed the cart to their car, where they packed them into her two foldout baskets before he brought the cart back to the store.

After the short drive home, he helped her pack it away before kissing her goodbye so she could change into her uniform and head to work. Tomorrow she had an early shift so she could prepare the food for Thanksgiving and spent the evening with her boyfriend.

---

As Wednesday rolled around, she stumbled out of bed at what was for her way too early and managed to wake up after three cups of coffee before donning her uniform again and heading to work once she had taken the chicken out of the freezer. The shift itself was not as stressful as she had feared but she was kept busy by the breakfast and brunch crowd before Bernadette showed up to take over at eleven.

She headed home and went straight into her apartment, not bothering to knock at Leonard's, knowing that he was still at work. She took the recipe book and prepared the cranberry sauce and the stuffing she would stuff into the chicken tomorrow before making some salad and anything else they'd need for a Thanksgiving dinner that she could put into the fridge she she would have less to do tomorrow.

When she was done, it was already afternoon so she decided to head to the gym again for another hour of yoga. She didn't know if they would have sex again tonight since Sheldon was rather unpredictable lately but as people liked to say, hope springs eternal.

When she returned, she noticed Leonard's car in the parking lot and hurried up the stairs and into her apartment. She put away her gym clothes and checked herself in the mirror, optimizing her red flower shirt and dark jeans and grabbing a DVD before heading out again.

"Hey you." she greeted Leonard after going into the apartment, seeing him place a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table.

"Hey yourself." came the reply and he gave her a kiss when she reached him. "So, what are we watching tonight?"

"This." she replied and showed him the DVD.

"Oh no, not Sex in the City again." he said dejected.

"Hey, I love this movie. I can watch that time and time again."

"I know, we have done that already." he said and sat down, spreading his arm.

She put the DVD into the player and hit play on the remote before snuggling into his chest. He tightened his arm around her and held her tight as the opening credits rolled on the screen.

"It's nice having the place to ourselves, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically, enjoying being with him and without Sheldon.

"Uh-huh. Now that Raj is working for Sheldon, I don't have to chauffeur him around anymore. Plus, yeah, with them working late so much, we get some privacy." he said and kissed her cheek.

"Hey, want to get a little crazy?" she asked again, muting the TV.

"What are you thinking?" he countered, slightly apprehensive.

"Let's slide over to Sheldon's spot and have dirty sex." she suggested and he looked at the empty spot where Sheldon usually sits.

"You are a dirty girl." he said and scooted over, going prone in the process.

She waited until his upper body was horizontal and climbed on top of him, connecting their lips and readying herself to take off her clothes. But before she could start doing that, someone knocked on the door.

"Oh god, how did he know?" she asked exasperated, expecting Sheldon to come in but wondering why he would knock in the first place.

"Hello." Howard greeted them after coming in without waiting for Leonard or Penny to actually open the door or calling him in.

"Hi, Howard." Leonard greeted him in a voice that said pretty much the opposite.

"Am I interrupting?"

"Little bit, yeah."

"Guess I should have called." Howard said but made no move to leave.

"Yeah, maybe." Penny agreed, hoping he'd get the hint.

"Tonight's the night I usually go line dancing with Raj at the palomino." Howard remarked after a few seconds of standing around. "But he's working with Sheldon."

"Yes, we know." Penny acknowledged.

"Want me to leave?" the engineer asked.

"You know, whatever." Leonard replied in a voice that said yes.

"Okay, I guess I can hang for a little while." Howard said and sat down on the couch, forcing Penny to sit up as well. "So what are we watching? Sex and the city? Yikes."

"Hey, I happen to love this movie." Penny argued.

"Fine, let's watch it. Maybe all our periods will synchronize." came the derisive remark from him and he took the bowl of popcorn, starting to eat it.

Penny watched the movie, knowing it already but enjoying it nonetheless while trying to ignore Howard's disparaging remarks at about every scene while Leonard sat in frustration in Sheldon's spot. She hoped that he would leave her and Leonard alone once the movie was over but two minutes before the end credits would come, the door opened again and Sheldon entered with Raj in tow.

"Hey Howard, sorry to have missed our line dancing but Sheldon was being..." Raj started and stopped as soon as his eyes fell on Penny.

"Raj, you should really see a shrink, it's getting ridiculous." Penny sighed and stood up, gave Leonard a kiss goodbye and left the guys alone, knowing that her plans with Leonard for this evening were pretty much over. She headed home and took the chicken out of the freezer to let it thaw during the night before getting ready to bed.

---

When she woke up on Thursday noon, she got up and dressed in some comfortable underwear and pants before throwing a sweatshirt over her head. Since she needed to prepare the chicken and potatoes for the Thanksgiving dinner with Leonard, she didn't want to wear good clothes in case they got dirty during cooking.

After stuffing the chicken and putting it into the oven, she peeled some potatoes and cooked them before using soy milk to mash them. Once that was done, she sat down on the couch, enjoying the free time until the chicken was done, happy at her foresight to prepare the rest of the meal the day before.

Letting the early football game run in the background, she kept herself busy for the afternoon, until Leonard came through the door with a plates in his hand.

"I brought apple pies." he proudly stated.

"Great. Put them into the fridge and then sit down."

Leonard did as he was told, giving her a gentle slap on her ass as he passed her and receiving a kiss in return. Since Sheldon had adamantly argued that he would eat alone without knowing what kind of sauce she was serving, and Raj was with Howard at the latter's mother, she looked forward to eating her first Thanksgiving dinner with the man she loved.

As Leonard sat down at the window table, she put the last things on it before getting the chicken from the oven and putting it onto a folding table next to the one they sat at. Without any word, both started eating their salads, Penny feeling proud at her achievement in terms of cooking despite her reluctance to cook at all. Before either of them had taken a third bite, a distinctive knocking combination announced the arrival of Leonard's roommate.

"Come in Sheldon." Penny called and the door opened to reveal the lanky physicist. "What do you want?"

"Um..." Sheldon started, clearly struggling to speak. "In light of recent developments I felt that my denial to attend you Thanksgiving dinner was clearly a premature notion and I wondered..."

"What is he talking about?" she asked Leonard.

"I think what he's saying is that he doesn't have anything to eat fit for Thanksgiving and now he's asking to join us." Leonard explained. "Isn't that right, Sheldon?"

"Yes." a subdued Sheldon muttered.

"Fine." Penny agreed. "Lets move all this stuff into your apartment, since your table is bigger."

They each grabbed their dishes, cutlery and other stuff and brought it over, coming back again to get the rest of the food while Sheldon placed it all on his table in a pattern only sensible to him. After putting the chicken down in the middle of the table, she sat down into the middle seat of the couch with Sheldon in his spot and Leonard on her other side.

They enjoyed a leisurely dinner, despite Sheldon complaining about the lack of cranberry jelly and the chicken being a tad too dry and an hour later, the plates were empty save for some leftover salad. Leonard walked back to her apartment and got the apple pies from her fridge, bringing it back to his place while Sheldon put the used dishes into the sink to wash them later.

Penny cut the first pie and put a piece on each of the three plates Leonard had brought to the table and handed one to both of the guys. They sat back and watched TV, a rerun of the parade that Sheldon so vehemently said he would watch. She'd rather have watched the football game but since it was his TV, she let him have his wish.

Soon enough, the pies were gone as well and Leonard and Penny were slouched on the couch, their stomachs overstuffed while Sheldon had only eaten one piece of pie. Penny had originally planned to watch the evening football game but before she could voice her desire, she fell into a food induced coma.

She was woken by Leonard a few hours later who had also fallen asleep and been woken by Sheldon who voiced his desire to go to bed and his concern about their current sleeping positions. Penny had to agree with him this time because her neck was killing her after having it bent in an uncomfortable angle for three hours.

As Sheldon moved towards his bedroom, Penny saw that he had already cleaned her plates and placed them on the kitchen island for her to take home. Leonard went to the bathroom to wash himself and brush his teeth, using the toilet before making room for Penny who followed suit. In an unspoken agreement, they both decided to spend the night in his bed, despite Sheldon being in the next room.

Both fell into bed and clung to each other as the still apparent food-induced sluggishness quickly lulled them to sleep.

---

The next morning, she was woken by feathery kisses on her shoulders and neck and moaned at the sensation as consciousness returned to her. She opened her eyes and found herself in Leonard's arms, his body behind hers, warming her.

"Good morning." she sighed as his lips went to the point on her neck that drove her wild.

"Morning." he said back and continued kissing her.

"I really want to let you continue but I really need to use the bathroom." she giggled and wiggled out of his arms despite his attempts to keep her in bed.

She hurried to the bathroom and used the toilet, washing her face afterwards and brushing her teeth. She didn't know if it was such a good idea to continue what they were doing since she didn't want Sheldon to listen to them and later complain about the noise. She said as much to Leonard after her return into his bedroom.

"Sheldon already left for work. I checked his room when I used the bathroom earlier." Leonard dispelled her doubts.

"Oh, well then." she grinned and quickly took off her night clothes before jumping back into bed.

She pressed her back into him again so he could continue what he had started before she had to get up. He did but had more ideas as his hand started moving across her front, caressing her breasts and gently pinching her nipples before running his finger over them in a soothing motion. Her hips started pushing into his groin almost by reflex and she felt him grow hard behind her, indicating that he had gotten naked even before she came back from the bathroom.

He simply turned both of them until she was on her stomach and gripped between them, lining himself up and pushing deep into her in her most favorite position. Her g-spot got stimulated immediately with the first thrust and he started moving slowly, driving her crazy with a moderate pace that had her panting hard but the coil tightening not quickly enough.

She thought that he might be attempting to reach the position again that had her falling off the bed in orgasmic twitching but knew that it wouldn't work if he thought about it, the same way she was unable to keep him deep into her mouth when she actively tried to count the seconds in her head.

"Leonard." she panted. "Faster! Make me come. I want to come."

Instead of replying verbally, he sped up, letting his manhood slam into her, spreading her folds the way she loved it and reliably hitting her g-spot with every thrust. She felt the coil tightening rapidly, the wave of pleasure coursing through her body and breaking inside her brain.

"Fuck! Yes!" she shouted into the pillow as she climaxed.

Leonard simply continued in his fast pace and she kept squealing at every thrust, hearing him groan in exertion. She knew that he was holding himself back again to prolong her pleasure and she loved him for that but on the other hand she didn't want to risk triggering his asthma. Any more thought was cleared from her brain when his left hand went between her body and the bed to rub her clit in sync with his thrusts and she soon exploded a second time after which he slowed down.

"Mmmmh." she hummed in satisfaction. "Leonard, I think you earned it."

"Earned what?" he panted and pulled out in confusion. She didn't answer with words but grabbed his manhood and lined it up with her anus. "Um... are you sure?" he asked her.

"Yes. I want to." she replied. "Please."

"Okay." he agreed and started pushing slowly.

She felt the tip entering her other hole and she relaxed her body to welcome it in. He continued to push very slowly, getting in inch by inch until he was halfway inside. Instead of going further he pulled out and pushed in again, starting to thrust in a measured pace to ensure that Penny felt no pain whatsoever.

She moaned at the feeling, its strangeness weirdly exhilarating as she felt him going deeper. She knew that he again held back for fear of hurting her but after doing it like this a few times now had given her a feeling of how fast he could go and how deep. She started pushing backwards when he thrust in, getting him deeper into her and letting him know that it was okay.

"I'm going to push in completely, okay?" he warned her and put her hands on her hips to still her movements.

"Okay." she assented and readied herself. He pushed in until he was three quarters to where he had already pushed to an stilled again before starting to slowly go deeper. "Uuuuuuuuuh." she groaned as the skin of his abdomen hit her cheeks, telling her that he was inside her completely.

He stilled his movements again to let her get used to him and felt her pulsating, almost milking his manhood. Penny's eyes fluttered at the sensation, it being so unnatural yet so strangely satisfying. She started wiggling her ass to get some friction when Leonard hadn't moved after thirty seconds.

"Leonard, move please. Fuck me." she told him in a high-pitched voice.

"Okay." he agreed and started thrusting.

"Uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... " she moaned in rhythm of his thrusts.

"My god Penny, it's so tight." Leonard groaned, still moving comparatively slowly.

"Uh... faster... uh... please." she told him between thrusts and he complied.

She bit into his cushion as he sped up, thrusting hard and deep and making their skin slam together again. After her very first anal experience, which had been drunken and painful, she would have never expected it to ever be pleasant. Yet here she was, feeling his thick shaft deep inside her and loving it so much that she wanted him to go harder and faster.

He lifted his upper body up and placed his knees next to her hips. For a second she wondered what he was doing but when he started thrusting again, his plan became apparent since the new position allowed him to push in even deeper.

"Oh god, yes! Just like that!" Penny screamed into the pillow and her voice degenerated into more groans that mirrored his.

While his hands went to her shoulder to add to the strength of his thrusts, she started rubbing her clit as he continued his fast thrusts. To her own surprise, he managed to go ten more minutes and when she climaxed, he followed her with just a few seconds delay, groaning loudly as he spilled into her before he collapsed onto her back and pulled out.

"Wow, that was..." he panted.

"I know." she agreed.

They rested for a few minutes until Leonard got up and grabbed his wet wipes to clean himself and handing her some so she could do the same. He put on his shorts and white shirt and socks, and threw his robe over him, tying it together in the middle before watching her dress.

She took a pair of shorts and a tight blue top she had left in the room a few days before and without bothering to put on socks or shoes she followed him outside. She put her arms around his waist, both to feel him but also to use him as a crutch, her legs still feeling a bit like jelly after the amazing morning sex.

"That was simply amazing. Thank you." he said to her.

"Leonard, honey, you don't have to say thank you just because we have sex." she grinned.

"I didn't thank you for the sex in general but for the..."

"Top o' the mornin' to ya!" Howard's voice interrupted him before he could finish his sentence, startling them both.

"What are you doing here?" Leonard asked the engineer.

"Well, usually I'd go with Raj to scam on hippie chicks at the farmers market, but he's still working with Sheldon, so I thought I'd come over here and make you guys scrambled eggs and salami. It's the perfect meal for apres l'amour." Howard grinned, dividing the eggs on three plates.

"Oh, kill me." Penny sighed, shocked at the notion that he listened to them.

"By the way, I couldn't help overhearing your big finish. Bravo, Leonard." Howard gleefully said to Leonard, who blushed hard.

"See, if you had killed me when I said kill me, I wouldn't have had to hear that." she admonished her boyfriend.

"What do you guys think? Want to take in a matinee, maybe go rollerblading, catch a step class?" came from Howard.

"Do something." she pleaded with her sweetie.

"Yeah, okay. Um, Howard, we need to talk." Leonard said, getting his attention. "Please understand that it's not that we don't want you around, but Penny and I occasionally need some alone time which we have not often thanks to a certain roommate of mine."

"Oh, I get it, I'm the third wheel. Sorry, I should have seen that. I'll get out of your way." Howard said dejected and moved towards the door. "Uh, you're gonna want to eat those eggs while they're still hot." he added.

"Thank you." Leonard said, feeling bad.

"There's lox and cream cheese in the fridge, the bagels are in the oven, I was warming them up." Howard threw in.

"That's great." Penny commented, feeling bad as well.

"I'll just hang out with my mom. That's always fun." came another statement, before he left the apartment and closed the door.

"Are we terrible people?" Penny asked Leonard once the door was shut.

"I don't know. What do you want me to do?" he asked her.

"Get him, bring him back." she sighed, regretting it already.

"Are you sure?" he inquired.

"Yeah." she confirmed.

"Okay. He's waiting outside anyway, listening with his ear on the door."

"Really?"

"Sure, I'll prove it. Howard come back." he called out, not even particularly loud upon which the door opened immediately.

"Oh, you guys had me scared for a minute." a relieved Howard said as he reentered the apartment.

They took the plates and moved to the couch, Howard having enough sense to sit in the armchair and leaving the couch to Leonard and Penny. They ate in silence, Penny pushing her salami on Leonard's plate and receiving some of his eggs in return. Once they were done, Howard took the plates and cleaned them.

"So, Penny, I can't help but notice how good you look in that outfit." Howard commented, making her roll her eyes.

"Thanks. But if you make any innuendo about me flashing you, I will throw you out personally." she threatened.

"What are your plans today?" Howard asked, quickly and wisely changing the subject.

"Penny's making me go with her to Black Friday." Leonard replied with a resigned voice.

"Sweetie, I plan to go into a Victoria's secret store and planned of letting you watch me change." she purred.

"Penny's making me go with her to Black Friday." Leonard repeated with a lot more enthusiasm.

"Oh, okay. Before you ask, I will not go with you. I rather shop online on Black Friday." Howard preceded anything Penny might say in that regard.

"And you have your mother to shop for clothes." Leonard deadpanned.

"Sure. With her mass, she barrels through the competition." Penny rubbed salt in the wound, laughing. "But we should hurry, so we still can get some of the bargains."

"Oh, okay." Leonard agreed and stood up, bringing his plate and Penny's to the kitchen island where he was joined by Howard and Penny.

"I guess that is my cue to leave. At least you didn't simply throw me out for no reason but I really don't want to go shopping with anyone."

"Howard, you should really find yourself a girlfriend." Penny said.

"Do you know someone?"

"No."

"Too bad. Leonard, we will talk later about this topic but until then, cheerio." Howard said and left the apartment while Leonard dried off the dishes and placed them back on the stack on the kitchen island.

"What's that topic about?"

"I actually have no idea." he shrugged.

"Okay, I'll take my dishes and get dressed. You go get dressed yourself and come over." she said and took her dishes before heading towards the door.

She entered her apartment and brought the dishes to her kitchen, putting them into their respective cupboards and the plate back into the oven. Next she took a big swig of her water bottle and headed into her bedroom to change get of her clothes before rummaging through her drawers for something to wear.

"You're so beautiful." Leonard's voice startled her, making her turn around and seeing him fully dressed in the doorway.

"Thank you." she replied and took some panties and a matching bra from the open drawers.

"I hope you're not feeling any unease from what we did this morning." he said a bit worried.

"No, I feel great. I was a little worried at first doing it without one of those special condoms again but I feel nothing but satisfaction." she calmed him while putting on panties and bra.

She grabbed a pair of jeans that reached her calves and a red shirt with a deep cut in front that showed others what she had but not too much. She turned around and struck a pose, letting him take her in and getting an enthusiastic thumbs up. Both left the apartment and walked down the stairs, getting into his car and driving back to the same mall they had been three days ago. But this time, Penny would call the shots and drag him into every store there was. Especially Victoria's Secret.

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Stopping point. Otherwise I might not finish at all ^^

Hope you still enjoy the story.

Review please :)