A/N: I've visited Hilton Head, but I've never stayed there, so I have no idea if a resort like the one I describe in this chapter actually exists. I know there are golf resorts, but I'm not sure there are any on the ocean. The description is based on a resort I stayed at on the west coast of Florida when my husband and I went to a conference. Yes, it was that spectacular. Anyway, sorry this took so long. Writer's block is a, well, it rhymes with rich.


Disclaimer: Don't Own, Etc.

It was about two in the afternoon when Cuddy and House pulled into the resort at Hilton Head. They had driven straight through, with no lunch and only one pit stop. House was starving, and Cuddy really had to pee. Their luggage was efficiently removed from their trunk, and they handed over their keys to a valet to park the car. Check-in was swift and they were given their room keys. They took the elevator to the tenth floor. House was a little concerned that they were so high up, in case there was a fire (he couldn't exactly get down stairs very quickly).

The room was spacious, with a king size bed and a plasma TV. There was a sitting area, with a loveseat and a coffee table. The room also had a kitchenette and a minibar. The bathroom was huge, with a large, walk-in shower and a whirlpool tub that would accommodate two. Cuddy literally ran into the small room inside the bathroom where the toilet was and relieved herself. She gloried in most aspects of her pregnancy, but this business of having the equivalent of a weighted basketball pressing down on her bladder, making her need to pee constantly, well, that was one thing she wouldn't miss once she gave birth

Cuddy emerged from the bathroom and House was nowhere to be seen. She saw the door leading to the balcony was open. She found House leaning against the balcony railing. The concern House had about being on the tenth floor was set aside when he saw the view. It looked out over the beach, and you could see out into the ocean for at least a couple of miles. There was a cool breeze, and the smell of the ocean was all around him. Cuddy walked over to him and put her arm around his waist. House put his arm around her shoulders and they stood there.

"Not too shabby, huh?" House asked.

"Imagine what it will be like tonight, with the beach and the sound of the ocean and any lights out there," Cuddy said, pointing out to sea.

"Too bad the balcony is concrete," House observed. "I'd like to have sex out here."

"Well, there have to be at least ten pillows on that bed, and I bet there are a few more in the closet," Cuddy offered.

"Ah, Cuddy, ever the problem-solver," House said with both sarcasm and appreciation.

"I'm going to call the front desk and make sure they send us a couple more blankets, just in case it's cold tonight," Cuddy stated.

At this point, House's stomach began to rumble. Loudly. "Hey, can we get something for lunch?" he almost begged.

"One of the restaurants in the hotel is a sports bar, so they should have the greasy food you love," Cuddy noted.

They went downstairs and ate lunch. Since it was so late, they figured they would skip dinner tonight and order something from room service if they got hungry later. They also made a reservation at the more formal restaurant in the hotel for the next evening, and noted the hours for breakfast the next day.

"Do you want to talk to the concierge about anything we want to do while we're here?" Cuddy asked as they walked by the desk.

"I just drove five hours, I've had a huge lunch, and we drove seven hours the day before," House responded. "The only decision I want to make right now is whether to have sex-sleep-have sex-sleep, or if I should change the order to sleep-have sex-sleep-have sex."

"Just checking, but I'm the one you plan to have sex with, am I correct?" Cuddy inquired.

"Yes," House answered emphatically.

"Well, then, I vote for sleep-have sex-sleep-have sex," Cuddy stated. As the pregnancy progressed, she became increasingly tired. Not that she really slept that well any more. Still, a late afternoon nap sounded so wonderful and decadent--nothing she would ever do on a Monday in her real life.

"I'll take it under advisement," House replied. For whatever reason, his leg wasn't giving him too much trouble, and that was the best time for him to get some sleep.

They had reached the room at this point. Cuddy used her room key and opened the door. House slipped the Do Not Disturb sign on the door handle, just in case some idiot maid decided that she would get a bigger tip if she provided turn-down service. Those chocolate mint-thins they put on the pillows were an abomination. He also bolted the door, to be sure to avoid any interruptions.

Cuddy was in the bathroom. House heard the water running, then the toilet flushed, then the water ran again. At least she takes all those warnings about staff infections seriously, House thought, remembering the time she actually cut off an intern's tie when it landed in a sink during that Echo virus epidemic in the maternity ward.

She stuck her head around the bathroom door. "What's the verdict?" she inquired.

"I think it's sleep-have sex-sleep-have sex," House replied.

"Excellent," Cuddy said, emerging from the bathroom in a very baggy nightshirt that went down almost to her knees.

"If you want me to sleep, you need to stop wearing clothes that entice me, woman," House growled.

"This?" Cuddy asked incredulously. "If this is what you consider enticing, House, then I don't know what I could wear, short of a nun's habit, that would keep you from leering."

"Actually, that sounds kind of hot," House responded.

His comment was rewarded with a pillow in the face.

They put all the extra pillows on the floor, pulled back the covers and climbed into bed. After trying several arrangements, they decided that Cuddy lying on her side with House spooning behind her was the position most conducive to sleep.


They woke up at about seven. It wasn't dark enough yet to have sex on the balcony, so they decided to break in the bed.

"You've been touching me a lot lately, I'd say it's your turn," House said in a husky voice. He reached over to Cuddy's face and began to caress it. His hand moved from her face to her hair. He ran his fingers through her dark curls as he began to kiss her face.

In some ways, Cuddy was even more closed off than House. As a woman, let alone a young, attractive one, she had spent years developing her tough, professional persona. As the years passed, she simply became less and less able to open herself up and be vulnerable. That was why she was never able to establish a relationship with anyone, or so she thought.

House had known her before her walls had gone up, and was able to remember what she was like before she became Dean Of Medicine and little else. He also never allowed her to be completely closed off from him. He could always find that little corner of her that was surprised, impressed, annoyed, charmed, amused, angered or seduced by him.

House wasn't much for talking, so he continued to show his love by kissing her. His mouth lingered on some of his favorite places – her temples, her eyelids, behind her ears, and under her chin. He kissed both corners of her mouth repeatedly. She tried to kiss him back but he wouldn't respond. Cuddy was already becoming overwhelmed by him.

She gasped as he began to kiss her throat. It was even more thrilling when he kissed his way up the nape of her neck. He traveled back down and encountered her nightshirt.

"Take this off," he growled.

She complied without comment. House was excited to find she had nothing on underneath. "Much better," he grunted with approval.

He caressed her shoulders and then kissed them. Then it was on to the back of her arms. He started down her back, making sure to kiss each vertebra.

Before long, he reached one of his favorite locations, her ass. Although he teased her mercilessly about it being huge, it wasn't. In fact, even with her being pregnant, and her butt having expanded, it still wasn't large. What it had been, and what it continued to be, was perfectly round and firm. And gorgeous. House's hands both massaged and caressed it, not missing a single centimeter. Cuddy shivered under his touch.

She assumed he wouldn't actually kiss her there, until she felt his mouth, kissing and sucking. She felt a couple of nips and was concerned for a second if he was making any marks that would show. But then she remembered that the maternity bathing suit she brought on the trip was hardly bikini-skimpy. So, she let go of her worries for once and just let herself enjoy the sensuousness of what House was doing to her body.

He continued on to the backs of her legs. She became concerned again when House reached her feet. Cuddy had spent most of her career up until the last few months encasing them in ridiculously high-heeled power pumps. Cuddy realized that this was probably over-compensation for how vulnerable she felt about her feet. Any touch short of being painful created an intense arousal for her. It was why she never allowed a massage therapist to touch her feet. Even the men she had been with, except for House, were warned away.

House began with her left foot. During her pregnancy, she had become accustomed to his long, incredibly strong fingers massaging away the pain caused by carrying around that weighted basketball. Her feet weren't particularly sore since she hadn't been on them for any length of time since the wedding, but it still felt incredible. After he finished the massage, he drew his fingers lightly across the sole of her foot. It was both sensual and ticklish. The sound coming from her mouth was a combination of a moan and a giggle. She could also feel herself getting wetter. House began to kiss and lick the bottom of her foot. Cuddy moaned again. House licked between her toes. Cuddy's body began involuntarily rocking. House finished with her left foot and gave her right foot the same treatment. Cuddy thought she would explode. House paused in his travels up the front of her body. He spread her legs and began licking her lips and then her clit. She was so wet and aroused that it didn't take long before she climaxed. She groaned with pleasure.

As House resumed traveling up her legs, Cuddy's senses returned somewhat. Her thoughts stayed on what had just happened. She knew many people would have thought her particular response was strange or disgusting. She continued to be amazed by what that told her about House. He could be so critical when it came to people's intelligence. But, when it came to people's sexuality, he was surprisingly non-judgmental. Had House developed some compassion because of all the hookers he had patronized? Was keeping his own sexuality intact such a struggle being raised by an abusively strict father and, later, dealing with a visible handicap that he made the choice not to pass judgment on others? Yet another thing about House she could spend the rest of her life trying to figure out, and also to simply respect.

Her thoughts were pulled back as House began to kiss her abdomen. She smiled as she realized how much longer this was going to take him than it had seven months ago. House didn't seem to mind, either. The baby had been restless after her orgasm, but now calmed down. House seemed to have that effect on the baby. She remembered a few weeks ago when the baby had been so agitated when she was at work that she could barely concentrate. She had to make a presentation at an important meeting, and she couldn't afford to be distracted. She stopped at House's office just before the presentation and talked to him for a few minutes. The baby calmed down just hearing the sound of his voice. Cuddy hoped (no, prayed) that effect would continue after the baby was born.

House had reached her breasts. They had leveled off as far as pregnancy-related growth was concerned, but they continued to be exquisitely sensitive. Both House's hands and his mouth brought her intense pleasure.

"Are you ready?" House asked quietly as he made his way back up to her face. This time, he kissed her deeply, his tongue dancing in her mouth. She reciprocated, pushing back with her tongue into his mouth. House slid down so that his body could curve around hers and his cock could reach her. Even though she was still wet, House decided to ease himself into her slowly. He did that several times, until his erection was straining.

Please take me, Greg," Cuddy whispered. It was all House needed to speed up his thrusts.

"OOOhhhh," Cuddy moaned as her orgasm hit.

House grunted with pleasure as his own release washed over him.

They lay on their sides, facing each other. Cuddy's hands reached up to House's face and began to caress him.

"I'm going to need a few minutes to recover before we start again," House informed her.

"I wasn't expecting you to start again now," Cuddy responded. "I thought the plan was sleep-have sex-sleep-have sex. So, we need to do the second sleep part now."

"If you wanted to sleep, why are your hands all over me?" House asked.

"My hands aren't all over you," Cuddy replied. "I'm just touching your face a little."

"Why?" House asked.

"Because I enjoy it, that's all," Cuddy answered as she finished, kissed him lightly and rolled on to her side so that House could spoon with her.

House put his arms around her, wondering why he had wasted all that time not letting her touch him. We'll just have to make it up the best we can, House thought with a smile as he drifted off to sleep again.