The rest of the conference played out much as the first two days had. Allison spent as much time with Wilson as she could, never getting enough of his company. She wondered why, after all these years of knowing him that she found him hard to leave. She enjoyed walking with him, was fascinated by the lecture he did, and was surprised whenever he entwined his fingers with hers. To be honest, she wasn't exactly sure what she was doing with him, allowing herself to fall even more for him. It was wrong on many levels, but she couldn't help herself.
Too soon the conference was coming to an end. Allison fervently hoped that this was not the end of what they had started. She dreaded heading back to Boston, to not have the daily contact with him that she'd quickly grown used to. Wilson felt the same way. Going back to Princeton, to deal with House's situation again frustrated him. Yes, he was House's friend, but things were stressed beyond belief. He probably shouldn't have left House alone for this long, there was no telling what trouble he might have gotten into while he was at this conference. As much as he was House's friend, it seemed to be a full-time responsibility, one that he took very seriously, but at the same time, it didn't leave him much time for himself. His marriages and relationships had all suffered at points because of this. The difference with Allison was that she knew House, knew how demanding and stressful being in House's universe was. And there in lay another problem. Would Allison be able to handle coming back in to that atmosphere, the one she'd escaped from and left her marriage? Would they be able to make a go of whatever was between them?
James watched her as they were eating their last dinner together at the conference. Tomorrow he was taking her to the airport before returning home. He didn't want it either, he would prefer she was coming back with him. But they didn't have much choice in the matter. The conference was wrapped up, the break from reality was over and they were returning to their everyday lives, without one another.
Allison caught him looking at her, a smile on his face, and wondered what he was thinking. She smiled back at him, even though she felt sad that this was the last time they'd be doing this for awhile. They hadn't yet talked about what or how things were going to go after they left here. She supposed that time spent apart would put things in perspective, cool off this relationship that had heated up so quickly. That made her feel even sadder. They hadn't slept together, not yet. Was that where this relationship had been leading? That first night, she would have slept with him, she was convinced of it. Now, after five days of being in each others company, there had been plenty of kissing but nothing beyond that. He hadn't pressed the issue and Allison had held back. She didn't want to appear needy, she wanted this relationship to be different than his other ones.
Still, if anything happened tonight, she'd not be unhappy. There were worse things that could happen, she said to herself. At least if they did sleep together, at least their first time wouldn't be when she was high on drugs. They finished up their meal and this time, there was a dance closing out the conference. When he asked her if she wanted to go to it, she said yes, wanting to know whether he was as good at dancing as everything else. Unsurprisingly, once they were on the dance floor, he proved to be very good. Allison hoped she wasn't the worst, considering she'd had to have dance lessons for her own wedding.
They whirled around the dance floor, Allison liking his hand on her back, their fingers locked together. They danced for the longest time, enjoying themselves immensely, putting off the thought that in twenty-four hours they wouldn't be together. When a slow song came on, James pulled her closer and Allison found she didn't mind it at all. When he maneuvered her out the balcony doors, into the cool night air and relative darkness, they still swayed to the music. Allison rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was beating fast. She lifted her head up to look at him, seeing something in his dark eyes. He lowered his head, capturing her lips with his. The kiss deepened, Allison moaned as he pulled her closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing into him. After several minutes of this, they broke away, breathless.
"Allison..." James trailed off. He wanted her, he knew that. But he was going to let her decide how far they'd go.
"Let's go." she said simply. She could play hard to get, turn him down, walk away from all this. But she didn't want to. She pulled away from him, not letting go of his hand, leading him back into the ballroom. They stopped by their table, picking up her purse before making their escape. When they reached the elevator, he pressed the button for his floor. She didn't object. When they arrived at his room door, he pulled her into his arms again, kissing her.
"Are you sure?" was all he asked when they broke the kiss again.
Allison looked at him, knowing he was giving her an out, that she didn't have to go into his room with him. It was all up to her. In response, she took the card key from his hand and opened the door to his room. She pulled him in, before turning around and pulling him close, resuming their kiss. The door closed and they were encompassed in darkness. She felt his hands move over her hips, and the next thing she knew, he suddenly hitched her up. Her legs went around his waist, pulling him ever closer. She didn't object to it, and he soon got caught up in kissing her again. He moved from her mouth to the skin around her neck, feathering her collarbone with tiny strokes of his tongue. When he heard her moan, however, he recaptured her mouth, making his claim to it.
Allison tightened her grip on his waist with her legs. He was obviously aroused by her, she had evidence of that fact. She felt a shock go through her body, knowing what was going to happen between the two of them. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. She felt him working on the zipper of her dress, felt it starting to loosen and slip down. Hurriedly, she helped him shed his jacket. After she'd gotten him out of that, she started on his tie, loosening it and finally getting rid of it. She worked on the buttons of his shirt, not wanting to be the only one partially naked. She let her legs relax their grip on his waist, standing for as moment as she started working on his belt buckle. She looked at him, surprised by her boldness. Her knees weakened at the sight of him. She finally succeeded in undoing his belt, working on the zipper. For his part, he finally finished with the zipper and her dress fell to the floor. Reclaiming his territory, he hitched her up against his waist, loving the feel of those legs around him.
She broke away from kissing him long enough to mutter "bed" and he obliged. They collapsed on to it, never stopping kissing. With nothing but a few thin wisps of material between them, he made short work of them. The skin on skin feel finally broke her, she wanted more and she wanted it now. James kissed her again, loving the feel of Allison being with him. He couldn't say he'd dreamed of this moment, but he'd always had an attraction to her. Getting to this point, it made him extremely happy. He slowly eased her knees apart, positioning himself to enter her. He went slowly, before picking up the pace. He raised her hips and she wrapped her legs tightly around him. She was making deep, throaty noises, apparently liking what was happening. He felt her nails scraping along his back and knew she'd left her mark on him. He pressed his fingers into her backside, pulling her tightly to him, knowing he'd leave bruises there. He lost it then, couldn't remember anything until a few minutes later when release came for both of them. He collapsed on top of her, she bore the brunt of his weight, feeling his rapidly beating heart against her. His head rested on her chest, and she wrapped her arms around it, kissing the top of his head.
James didn't want to lose contact with her, but when they separated, he pulled her close to him. He wrapped his arm around her, looking into her eyes. In a way, he was afraid she'd up and disappear, escape from his room, embarrassed by what they'd done. That she'd have second thoughts and run. Instead, she feathered his jaw with kisses, draping her leg over his, their bodies in tight contact. Allison's fingers began making trails up and down his side, exploring what for her was new territory. She drew tiny patterns on his skin as she worked her way up and down, committing his body to memory.
James kissed her forehead, drawing lazy circle eights on her back. The feel of that tickled her, making her giggle.
"You find me funny? Are my skills in this department laughable?" he joked with her.
"I'm just ticklish. You're skills in this department are definitely not laughable. No wonder you've had the reputation you've had." She concentrated on kissing his collarbone, leaving her mark there as well.
"My reputation is overrated." James hoped that it wasn't scaring her off. He hadn't been with anyone since Sam and he liked to think he was over the whole Lothario thing.
They remained quiet, kissing once again, clinging to one another. Whatever happened from here on they'd have to work out. For now, in the darkness, they were together and neither seemed to want to change the situation. James kissed her neck, capturing her hand in his. He held her tightly and somehow, they drifted off to sleep, neither wanting the morning to come and the separation that was was going to happen.