Chapter 7 - Spaghetti all'arrabbiata

Cuddy looked around and dropped her pumps next to the sofa in front of the TV in that small living room. The remote control was tidily set next to the TV and no glasses were on the coffee table. She looked at the bottle of Champagne on the kitchen table, now immersed in a bucket of melted ice, and lightly touched with her fingertips the flowers in the basket, as the hint of a smile appeared on her lips at the sight of that note.

"Blame Helen for that! It wasn't me!" He said nodding toward the note in her hand.

Cuddy smiled as she looked up at him and nodded, putting that note back in the basket.

"Me on top and you on bottom, wife?" He said with a mischievous look, stopping on the bedroom doorframe "Or you on top and me on bottom, boss, if you like to be bossy even in bed!" He said looking at her as her eyes widened and she opened her mouth slightly.

"C'mon, I was joking, Cuddy! There are two beds" he said watching her as she walked into the bedroom "But if you want to stay on top of me all the same, I..."

"Shut up, House!" She said seriously, but unable to hold back the laughter that escaped from her lips just a second after.

If only he knew what she had feared to see on that bed! She smiled, looking at those sheets, slightly crumpled just in the spot where he had probably sit down staring out the window, then watching his luggage next to the bed and to his black and yellow Nike.

There were two beds ... but not really two rooms. A king-size bed and a queen-size bed on the opposite sides of that bedroom and separated by a screen.

She looked at House as he sat in that same spot of what he had decreed to be his bed. And she couldn't shut up.

"Why the smallest one to me?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

House rolled his eyes but the corners of his mouth curled into a half smile.

"King... queen" He said, making a gesture with his hand towards each bed "Even if at work you're the one metaphorically wearing pants, boss... I still have something you didn't" he said, raising an eyebrow again.

Cuddy didn't reply, merely glaring at him and running her tongue on her lips.

"Hell, woman. Do you need proof?" He said, staring at her and starting to undo his belt.

Cuddy couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head and raising a hand.

"No, wait! Okay!" She laughed, covering her eyes with her hand "Ok! I'm sorry" She laughed again "Queen will be fine. Luckily there's not a bitch-size" She laughed again as he laughed in turn and did up his belt.

"However... if you're going to bring here that Marco you'll have to be very quiet" he said with a very mischievous look pointing to her bed with a nod of his head and then staring at her as she rolled her eyes.

"I promise I'm not going to have sex with him in here, okay?" She replied laughing "But anyway I think he won't dare to approach anymore since you literally made him run away, House!" She said glaring at him and shaking her head, but again failing to hold back a smile.

House looked into her eyes without reply, just staring at her for a few seconds.

"So... literally... could you have sex with someone else in here, Cuddy?" He asked with a mischievous look, still staring at her.

Cuddy held his gaze, but couldn't avoid slightly biting her lip.

"Or... having sex with him out there, under the porch, House" she replied with a challenge look, staring at him in turn.

...

She definitely need a shower. 100°F and a high rate of humidity. The blouse she wore was practically fused with her body. She took it off, placing it on the sink, and locked the bathroom door before walking into the shower, letting the warm water to wash away the tension of that day.

She poured a little shower gel in the palm of her hand and abandoned herself to the light coconut scent of that soft foam.

She felt decidedly reborn. Even more while she rubbed her body with that soft coconut-lime body lotion. One of the benefits of a deluxe room when your luggage is 38,000 feet above the ocean. Too bad that, on the contrary, she had absolutely nothing clean to put on. The first thing scheduled for the following day would have certainly been a morning of shopping at the Mall.

She wrapped herself in the terrycloth bathrobe and brushed her hair, before exiting the bathroom.

House was no longer there.

She bit her lip as she looked around in the silence of those two rooms, watching the fruit basket still on the table and the completely melted ice in the bucket from which the Champagne had been taken off.

Come on, Lisa! What did you expect? It's a holiday. Did you really expected that he wanted to spend the entire evening with you? ... What were you thinking...?

She wasn't sure that had been a good idea... She had been impulsive... and it was absolutely not like her to be impulsive...

She sighed as she sat on her bed but she couldn't help but bite her lip as she took the clean T-shirt he had left on her pillow. God, could he read her mind? Yeah, well, not that was a news actually... One step forward... and two steps back. After all, that have been their game for twenty years. So... why now did she feel like that?

She put on his shirt, not surprised at all of how much huge it was. Those "short" sleeves covered half of her arms and the hem of that shirt covered her backside and part of her thighs. She smiled at the thought of how actually she didn't feel so "small" in front of him... Yes, of course, her heels gave her some inches, but he looked down on her anyway... and yet ... she knew she had always been able to stand up to him and she never felt intimidated by him... well... almost never...

She thought for a moment about watching TV or going straight to bed, but lying in a bed again was the last thing she wanted to do... And it was not even 9 pm... Maybe she should order something to room service, but she wasn't hungry... even because it was impossible to be hungry since her stomach seemed to have been put in a spin cycle.

She went out on the terrace under the porch and sat down on one of the bamboo armchairs looking, beyond the palm trees, at the ocean just a few feet from her. Actually in the darkness she could only see the reflection of the moon on it, but it was relaxing by the same. She snuggled with her knees to her chest, just listening to the sound of her own thoughts swirling in her head in the calm of that night, away from the noise and bustle of the many pubs not far from there.

House was probably there. Leaning against a pub counter sipping Scotch and listening to music. Sipping Scotch and listening to music maybe with a beautiful woman... She shook her head slightly trying to dismiss that thought and wrapped her T-shirt more around her body, inhaling deeply and trying to swallow the lump in her throat. The scent of that T-shirt was not helpful at all in that. Not while his scent enveloped her body, awakening in her the desire to be in his arms, feeling the roughness of his stubble on her lips, the warmth of his skin under her hands, his tongue in her mouth... every inches of him on her... and inside h...

"Please... tell me you have nothing underneath that T-shirt!" A unmistakable ironic voice said making her practically jump.

And she met his eyes. His gaze ran from her bare feet to her legs, curled up against her chest, and to the hem of what was his own T-shirt, covering just her hips and completely revealing her thighs.

"Geez, you gave me a heart attack, House!" She replied suddenly sitting better in the armchair and instinctively lowering her shirt, trying to cover her thighs as much as possible.

House just looked at her with a slightly mischievous smile and she thanked the dim light of that porch. From the way her heart was hammering in her chest, she knew that she couldn't hide the blush that those thoughts had unleashed on her cheeks, and even less the dilation of her pupils.

"If you're waiting for your Italian Latin lover it's better for me to go inside" he said, nodding toward the door.

Cuddy bit her lip slightly and smiled, holding his gaze.

"You're not allowed to peek out, House" she said, raising both eyebrows and running her tongue on her lips "And I'm sorry to disappoint you but I'm not for threesome" she added with the same look, staring at him.

House stared back at her.

"How few you know me, Cuddy? Selfish and possessive guys don't like to share" he said looking at her again.

Once again she thanked the dim light of that porch because the way he looked at her suddenly made the muscles in her most intimate part to contract, triggering a whirlwind of sensations of which she didn't want to make him aware. The dilation of her pupils would have been enough to make him aware of what was happening inside her. Adrenaline. Dopamine. Hormones... and she couldn't control them.

No, she couldn't control them. How she couldn't help but bite her lip even imperceptibly. She was good to control the reactions of her body and to stand up at his jokes. It was one of the things he found irresistible about her. The way she could keep up with him and to reply to him. Apparently unmoved at everyone's eyes, as if his jokes couldn't touch her at all. Unmoved at everyone's eyes... not at his eyes. And he knew her too well. Even if right now that dim light protected her privacy.

"What are you doing here, House?" She asked trying to change the subject of that conversation "I thought you had better plans for the night" she added, raising an eyebrow.

"Better than ruin your own plans for the night, Cuddy?" He replied with a mischievous look.

"Oh right" she replied with the same look "you have pleasure from my frustration" she said nodding, still looking at him.

"A new form of sadism" he replied holding her gaze.

Cuddy nodded.

"Be careful" she added lightly biting her lip with the hint of a smile, standing up and making a couple of steps toward him "... someone would rather think that you like to keep me company" she said, placing a hand on his arm and looking at him straight in the eyes, before looking away and opening the door, going inside.

House looked for a moment at his own arm, at the spot where she had placed her hand, almost as if that hand had left a visible mark on his skin. He looked up, following the sway of her hips, unable to prevent his gaze from lingering on the hem of that T-shirt caressing her thighs with every step.

And he smiled, biting his lip in turn.

...

"Well, Cuddy" he said entering the door in turn and closing it behind him "You can seek pleasure with an Italian stranger... or... try one of the Italian pleasures" he said again with a mischievous look resting on the table one of the bags he was holding.

Cuddy turned around, looking at him with a questioning look. She approached the table and looked into the paper bag then pulling out a box of spaghetti.

"Um ... I thought this five stars Resort had a restaurant service" she said smiling, looking into the bag at what was all the ingredients for a pasta sauce.

House ran his tongue on his lips and took the bag from her hands, beginning to arrange those ingredients on the table. Garlic. Tomato sauce. Extra virgin olive oil. Dried chili peppers.

"Well... actually I don't really have a choice" she said giving him an amused glance "I have nothing to wear so I certainly can't go out without..."

"Panties?" House said in her place glancing mischievously at the hem of her T-shirt and then looking at her as she rolled her eyes.

"Pants, House" she said in the same tone she generally used when he said something inappropriate or exasperating "without... pants" she said looking at the shirt she had on and then at House as he took the cutting board and began to peel the garlic with an amused gaze.

She watched as he squashed a garlic clove with the palm of his hand and then another one.

"Tomato sauce spaghetti?" She asked with the hint of a smile, meeting his gaze across the table.

"Arrabbiata sauce spaghetti, Cuddy!" He replied, looking into her eyes as she rolled her eyes again, however, not holding back a smile.

"Actually it should be penne" she said with a challenge look he knew even too well, meeting his questioning look as he looked up from the cutting board "It's penne all'arrabbiata. Not spaghetti" she said, teasing him on purpose and looking at him as he rolled his eyes and snorted, then gesturing her to take a pan and help out instead of always wanting to have the last word.

Cuddy just smiled. House who cooked? This was definitely a news! She didn't know why but she had always thought that like any bachelor he just lived of take-away and at most of canned or frozen foods.

And House looked at her as she bent over to take that pan. Just long enough to lift her shirt, slightly revealing the point where her legs turned in her buttocks. And that was enough to House because something else lifted in his groin.

The garlic cloves sizzled in the oil together with the chili peppers, releasing their intense aroma in the small room, before the tomato sauce joined them...

House put the spaghetti in boiling salted water and lifted the lid of the pan looking at the small bubbles bursting on the surface of the sauce. Cuddy looked at him as he stirred the sauce with a wooden spoon then bringing it to his mouth, and she immediately drove away the thought that for a millisecond flashed in her mind.

God... she would have liked to be that spoon...

She turned and took from the refrigerator the bottle of Champagne that had been part of their welcome basket. God... she needed to be into that fridge at least for an hour to cool what she felt within herself...

She filled two glasses and handed one of them to House. No toast... but they looked for a moment at each other as they both took a sip and that wine warmed their throats.

House watched as she took another sip of wine, watching him as he drained the pasta, leaning with her lower back to the kitchen furniture. He knew that those few sips were enough for her to feel lightheaded as a few hours before in that drink bar. And that couple of almonds he had silently invited her to eat were certainly not enough to fill her stomach alleviating the alcoholic effect of the Moët & Chandon. Not enough to get drunk, but enough to loosen her inhibitions. Enough to slightly blush her cheeks and to make her smile more.

He put the two plates on the table and looked at her as she rolled a few spaghetti on her fork.

"Oh my..." she said, closing her eyes as soon as she put that forkful of pasta in her mouth a "...oh my God ..." she repeated, laughing and looking up from her plate meeting his gaze "... it's great... " she laughed again, running her tongue on her lips, then covering her mouth with her hand.

House couldn't help but laugh.

"If you add an 'oh yeah' and a 'oh please, more' I'll even think you're having an orgasm, Cuddy" he said looking into her eyes.

Cuddy rolled her eyes. He wouldn't have expected anything different from that look and that towel tossed toward him which hit his chest, then falling on the ground. But he wouldn't have instead expected the way in which she smiled, then letting herself go to a genuine laugh.

"They say that chili pepper is an aphrodisiac, right?" She said, still laughing.

God ... an aphrodisiac was definitely the last thing he needed right now. Not with her sitting in front of him, wearing nothing but his own t-shirt, and her laugh filling his ears with one of the most beautiful sounds on earth. He settled in his chair trying to think about something else. The money he owed to Wilson. A bedsore. A horrible bedsores. Too bad that no matter how he tried but he couldn't instead not think of her. Of the way she touched her neck. Of the way her eyes sparkled as she laughed. Of her tongue running on her lips after every mouthful to clean them from the sauce. God... he wanted to do that with his own tongue. Slipping a hand under that T-shirt. Because... God... it was obvious that she wasn't wearing a bra under that T-shirt. She was not wearing it because... certainly a perfectionist like her couldn't wear dirty clothes after a shower. And... she could even deny it but... if she was not wearing a bra then she was not wearing either her...

Fuck!

He tried to settle in his chair, trying to lighten the tension growing in his pants and watched as she took another long sip of champagne from her glass.

"So... you can even cook! What else don't I know about you?" She said, laughing and touching her neck, placing her glass on the table.

"There are many things you don't know about me, Cuddy" he said looking into her eyes, using the same words she had used with him, watching as she nodded and then couldn't hold back another laugh.