-5-

House dragged himself out of the empty bed. He hadn't slept a wink last night, waiting for her to come to bed and apologize to him. Of course, he'd made no move to apologize to her, but that was irrelevant.

He slowly pushed himself up to his full height, leaning more heavily than usual on his cane. With the agility of a very old man he slid his way across the hard wood floor as quietly as he could. As he knew she would be, she was curled up on the sofa, sleeping.

He leaned on his cane, watching her. When that became burdensome, he perched himself on the arm of the sofa. He tried to remember what Chase and Wilson and the others had told him. He was going to lose her if he didn't do something to make her want to stay.

Cuddy stretched her back and felt her vertebrae crack into place. She moaned away her aches as she twisted and stretched. "What are you doing?" She finally opened her eyes and saw him staring down at her.

"Watching you sleep." He still didn't take his eyes off her. It was as if he were mesmerized by her.

"That's creepy." She adjusted the dress she had worn the day before.

"I know." In one smooth motion he slid off the arm and onto the couch proper. Cuddy moved her feet out of the way just in time to avoid them being crushed.

"Are you feeling better?" Something in his mellow vibe told her it was safe to ask.

"Yep." He rested his hand on her calf. "So it's time for make up sex."

"When did we make up?" There was a masking humor in her voice.

"We didn't…yet." He shifted toward her, leaning in as she pulled back.

It didn't take long for her to run out of room to retreat to, and that's when he made his move, slipping his hand high under the thin madras cotton dress as he pressed his lips tightly to hers. She moaned in protest for about half a second before melting into the kiss. She loved kissing him. He wasn't one of those soft little peckers. When he kissed a woman, he meant it, and she felt it to the bottom of her soul.

While he was kissing her, he stealthily slipped his hand between her legs. He was smiling inside as he felt those legs part gently, allowing him access. He knew she wouldn't deny him access. No matter how mad she was at him or how hard to get she was playing, she always gave in.

"Tell me you're sorry," he whispered, playing his hand too soon.

"I'm not the one who should be sorry."

"You don't think you did anything wrong?" He was moving around inside her, his fingers setting the stage for what was to come.

"No," she breathed, already feeling the effects of his expert touch. He knew her body almost better than she knew it herself.

He had mapped it out, studied it, and committed it to memory. When life was particularly tedious, when his team was rattling off their chronically inept diagnostic guesses, he would close his eyes for a moment and picture her standing naked before him. It was what got him through the long, talked out months of Wilson's divorce.

"Tell me you're sorry, and I'll reward you handsomely." It wasn't about who did what to whom anymore, or at least not at the moment. That was too much for them to deal with right now, so they pushed it far into the back of their minds and focused on something else. It was now about who could break the other first. It was a bittersweet foreplay they had indulged in many times before.

"What am I supposed to be sorry about?" She might just do it, if the terms were right. She could feel his fingers, long and agile, getting her moist and ready to take him in. He was preparing her, getting her worked up.

House pulled away completely, hands, body, lips, all leaving her cold and unsatisfied. "If you don't know…"

"Damn you Gregory House!" She wasn't going to let him stop now. She pushed him down and climbed on top of him, pulling at his tee shirt like a greedy child unwrapping a present she knows she'll love.

"That didn't sound like an apology." He let her undress him. There were far worse sensations in the world.

"It wasn't." She ran her hands across her bare chest. For them, oral sex was the unspoken apology and whoever went down first was admitting their culpability in whatever fight had just taken place. So when she started to sink down his lanky body, he figured he'd won, and leaned back, waiting for his reward.

She was now kneeling before him, her hands resting on his knees, gently pulling them apart. She had the flap in his boxers open before he realized what she was doing and was gently coaxing his dick out into the open.

She kissed the inside of his knee, and then worked her way up his thigh slowly. The first thing he felt was her hair brushing against his tip gently as her head moved closer to it's goal.

"Are you sorry House," she purred between kisses, making it so seductive and so undetectable that he almost gave in.

"I'm….not." He remembered the true prize. Sure, having her go down on him now would be nice, but having her admit she was wrong, then go down on him as penance would be even nicer. Victory was far too sweet to hand over without a fight.

Cuddy frowned. She pulled away from him and plopped down on the sofa. "Pity."

"Pity?" House squeaked.

"I was feeling a little creative. Thought we'd try something new. But if you're not sorry…"

Creative? Something new? Damn her!

"RRRRRR." He fought the desire to surrender. It was strong, almost overpowering, but if he did, she would never let him live it down.

"So, what do you want to do today?" She asked him sweetly.

"What do you think?" He pushed his weight on top of her again. After a deep kiss that left her helpless beneath him, he pulled the thin straps of her dress off her soft shoulders, kissing the skin now exposed by his actions. Not satisfied with shoulder flesh, he slid the dress down further, thankful for its loose fit.

He now had her trapped, her arms pinned down buy the dress now hovering around her waist. Her beautiful breasts stood pert in the cool morning air. He brushed his fingers across one then the other.

"What are you doing House, let me go." She was struggling to shimmy the dress either higher, back onto her shoulders, or lower to pull her arms out, but neither was successful as her shimmying was limited by his determination to keep her exactly as she was.

"Now, now, say you're sorry and I'll let you do whatever you want. But until then I get to do whatever I want." And what he wanted to do was to suck on each breast greedily. Cuddy's squirming beneath him just made the activity a bit more active.

"I should be doing whatever I want to you until YOU apologize." She protested.

"Go right ahead." House leaned back. He was sitting on top of her, looking down at her bare torso and determined face. He managed to pin her arms under his strong legs, and there they would stay until he was good and ready to let her go.

He loved making her angry. That flush she got in her cheeks, the fire in her eyes, she was stunning when she was angry. He couldn't help himself. He had to smile.

"Stop smiling." She was struggling, but it was pointless. The man weighed a ton compared to her.

"No," he told her easily. "Are you sorry yet?"

"No." she said back, just as quickly. "But you're going to be once I get out of this." She was trying to pull her body up out of the dress, so House just let his weight come down on her completely. He'd been holding back, not wanting to crush her, but she asked for it.

"Awf." She protested spontaneously as his full heft descended on her. "You're crushing me."

"Tell me you're sorry."

"Never."

"Well, that kind of attitude is going to get you nowhere." He bounced a little on top of her, just to punctuate his weight a bit.

He ignored her further protests. He wasn't listening to a word she said until she said what he wanted to hear. In the meantime, he began to fiddle with her breasts again, much to her annoyance.

"You can always scream for help." He was taunting her now.

"I hope you've got a good divorce lawyer," she threatened.

Screaming would do her no good. The best she could hope for was puncturing one of House's ear drums, and that wasn't going to get her anything but an even more annoying deaf husband.

"All you have to do is say you're sorry and all this can end." House was in no hurry. He was quite comfortable. He did wish he'd thought to bring a book though. There was no TV in the Villa and he feared he might get a little bored. Oh, wait, he had funbags to play with.

With a smile House pressed down on her nipples. They had already been activated long before, and the hard nubs felt nice against the pads of his fingers. "Does that hurt?" He asked her in all seriousness.

"Ow. Yes it hurts. Stop."

"Do you really want me to?" He looked down at her, challenging her to lie to him.

She said nothing.

"That's a no then?" He smiled and pushed again.

She felt a mounting wetness between her legs and cursed his ability to do that to her body when her mind wanted to kill him. She thrashed her legs again, an exercise she had learned was pointless a few minutes ago. Still, it made her feel a little better.

"You are a stubborn little thing, aren't you?" House was amused by her attempts to throw him off. She was half his size and didn't stand a chance. On foot she could outrun him, but he'd already trapped her and now there was nothing she could do.

She had exhausted her options. There was only one thing left to do if she wanted this to end. "Oh, what are you doing?" She felt his fingers slipping into her again.

"I'm upping the anti." He grinned. "You're wet." He loved having that kind of power over her.

"You're an ass." It was her standard answer for any situation. The beauty of it was that it was always true.

"I know." House wasn't trying to pleasure her this time. He was merely tormenting her until she gave in, so as soon as he felt any sort of response, he pulled out.

"What!" She wanted more.

"Say you're sorry." He let his finger slide between her moist, swelling lips.

"Not until you do." She had control over her body. She could hold out as long as he could.

"Oh Cuddy." He sounded so disappointed in her. "I have the upper hand. I can sit here and do anything I want to you. You've tried to get away and realize now that it will get you know where. You could scream your pretty little head off, but Quintessa has instructed Adrianna not to bother us down here, so you really have no options left to you. I, on the other hand, can do anything I want." He squeezed her breast to prove the point, then lowered his head to it and gave it a playful little nibble.

She let out a quick shriek as his teeth dug into her skin.

"You will surrender." He was going to win this time.

"I hate you," she spat.

"Do you? Really?" He moved up from her breasts and nibbled on her neck teasingly. He knew it drove her crazy. He'd figured out early on that she had a weak spot right toward the back of her neck, that if he hit it just right, he could get her to confess to anything.

"No," she whimpered, cursing him for being able to manipulate her so easily.

She was proving more determined than he had imagined, and he had to step things up a notch. "I am going to take Wilson to the Monster Truck Rally next month. You can come if you want." He felt her giving up. "Gravedigger is going to be there, and for a nominal fee I can have my picture taken in the driver seat. How cool is that?"

She tried to ignore him as she usually did when he started talking Monster Trucks, or the L Word or any of his other interests that she didn't share, but with nothing to do but focus on the sharp prickles in her legs, she had no choice but to suffer through his story about some daredevil stuntman who was supposed to perform some amazing stunt at the Rally this year. He was supposed to be there last year, but something went wrong with one of his stunts and he was in traction, so he is making his big comeback this year and…

"I'm sorry House." She cracked. "For whatever it is you think I did, I'm sorry."

"What?" He stopped his steady flow of bull and leaned in. "I didn't hear that. What did you say again?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry House." She covered it nicely with a sarcastic delivery, but she was sorry, every day for the past ten years she was sorry and she would continue to be sorry until the day she died. But for now, she was just sorry she'd been stupid enough to let him get the upper hand.

"You are forgiven." He wished he meant it, he really did. "So, what do you want to do today?" He slipped off her and helped her sit up. Her poor legs were numb and she didn't quite have control over them yet.

"You can't be serious!"

"I think I want to go for a walk." He stood up.

"HOUSE!" He had forced her to apologize, and now he was going to make her beg too?

"You can come if you'd like."

"I would like to cum House. Now get your ass over here and make me."

House looked at her, twisting the words around in his head until he found an interpretation he liked. "Well, if you insist."

Instead of going down on her, he pulled her up off the couch and dragged her toward the door.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm making you come with me. That's what you said you wanted." He smiled. She was going to kill him one of these days, but damn it would have been worth it.

"That's not what I meant." She practically growled the words.

"Go get changed and come out with me. If you're good, I'll give you what you really want." He slapped her ass and pushed her toward the closet.

"Widowhood?" She said sharply, but went and grabbed a change of clothes and vanished into the bathroom.

When she came out she was refreshed. It had taken her quite a while and House couldn't help but wonder what she'd been doing in there. He eyed her suspiciously, trying to see if she was still as frustrated as she was when she went in.

"You look…refreshed." He said pulling his beloved backpack onto his shoulder.

"No thanks to you," she sighed, hurrying off after him, since he was clearly in no mood to wait.

The trip to the lagoon would have been a short five minute trek, but between House's pained pace and Cuddy's need to photograph every flower they passed on the way, it took over half an hour to get there.

"Wow." House stopped in his tracks and gazed on the tropical paradise that opened up before him. It had been worth the trip.

The lagoon itself was small and crystal clear, surrounded on two sides by rocks, one by a beautiful white sandy beach, and the other had a small, shimmering waterfall. It was a hundred times smaller than its big brother, and no more than five feet across, but it looked refreshing and beautiful as it crashed onto a rock below it and sprayed into the lagoon. Tropical flowers and plants larger than a human head surrounded the small clearing and the sun shone brightly down on this little hidden paradise.

Cuddy came up behind him and stopped to take in the view. "It's magnificent." She pulled out her camera and shot as many pictures as she could.

When she ran out of memory, she put her camera away and put her bag down near a small cluster of rocks. "Let's go for a swim." She then took House's hand and tried to pull him toward the water.

"I'm not going in there," House pulled back.

"Not even skinny dipping?" She pulled off her hiking shorts and peeled the army green tee shirt over her head.

"You go right ahead." House leaned against a nearby tree. This was definitely a spectator sport.

"You're missing out." She slid out of her panties and bra and added them to the clothes she'd piled on a rock.

House watched as, with the grace of a dancer, she lifted her arms over her head and dove with ease into the crystal clear water. Moments later her she popped her head out and slicked back her dark, wet hair. "It's nice and warm," she tried to persuade him to join her.

"I'm sure it is." House crushed a spider with the end of his cane.

"You don't know what you're missing." She floated on her back, pushing herself across the water with long, smooth strokes.

"Show me." He grinned.

She shrugged and vanished beneath the water once more.

House followed her sleek form as it sped through the water. He liked the way her body changed shape beneath the water's wavering surface.

She came up for air at the other end of the small pool. She was frowning. House asked what was wrong. "I was going to have you under this waterfall. But I guess I'm just going to have to take care of myself." She grinned mischievously, and then dove under the water.

House's eyes grew wide. He walked along the bank of the small pool, following her trail. When she came up for air, a few feet from the waterfall, he was already perched comfortably on a rock. "Don't let me stop you," he said graciously.

She just shot him a look then turned her back to him. She walked slowly under the water fall. The water here was just above her knees, exposing all the best parts of her body. She shivered as the cold water splashed over her.

She leaned her head back, the water flowing down it, making a sleek sheet of black silk. House thought of what it would feel like falling between his fingers. She swept the sheet of hair over her shoulder, letting the water run down her back. The small beads of water slid down the curve of her back, clinging to her flesh, unwilling to part with it. House knew how that felt. He smiled at the memory of her flesh in his hands. He watched as the sheet of water came down on her ass. House felt a sudden urge to squeeze that ass, to hold it firmly in his hands.

When he looked down, he noticed that his right hand had formed a cup, just the right size to hold one of her sweet cheeks. He closed it into a fist and tried to think of something else.

Cuddy turned to face him. Her face was fresh and clean. She looked exotic and beautiful surrounded by tropical plants and bright flowers, and the water, pouring over her extremely naked body, hugging every curve.

Her nipples were hard, he could see them from here. He gasped as he watched her take both her breasts in her hands. She held them up toward the falling water, her head back to let every drop fall onto her waiting, eager breasts. He felt that familiar rumbling in his groin. She knew exactly how to turn him on, damn her.

She slid her fingers gently across her hard nipples and gasped at her own touch. She was putting on a show for him. Her hands slid down her body slowly. Had they been his hands, the process would have been much faster. He was an impatient man.

Both her hands slipped between her legs. She let out a moan of pleasure as her own fingers slid between her lips. House moaned right along with her as he watched her body responding. Knowing he was watching her only made her wetter and hotter. She groaned again as she slid one long, elegant finger inside. She leaned back against the rocks, uncertain she could support herself.

Her eyes were closed, her lips parted. She was breathing heavily as her fingers gently massaged her clit, slipping between her lips. The water prevented her from being too lubricated and caused a natural friction to heighten the experience.

In her mind she was thinking of House. She was imaging his hands on her as she slid one hand across her bare flesh, grabbing one breast and squeezing it hard, the way he liked to do. She nearly called out his name, but bit her tongue. Instead she let out a low, guttural moan.

House had to close his eyes. He couldn't watch. He couldn't not watch. His eyes demanded to be on her, watching every moment of pleasure she was giving herself on his behalf. He wanted to call out orders, to bark instructions to her like a drill sergeant, but he dared not disturb the silence that surrounded them. He couldn't let anything break the spell that had come over her.

She was panting heavily now, pushing herself to her limit. She knew exactly were to move, what to do, to send herself into a frenzy. House could feel it, the electric tension shooting off her body. He knew she was close by the change in her breathing, by the way she groped desperately at her own body or clung to the rocks for support. He could feel the electricity in the air, smell her heat on the wind.

He couldn't take it any longer. He threw his cane down on the ground and dove into the water in all his clothes. He swam over to her quickly.

Cuddy's eyes opened in surprise. "House!" she gasped as he climbed up to her.

"You didn't think I was going to let you have all the fun now did you?" He pressed her against the rock, her arms pinned to her sides. He sunk his mouth deep over her neck, sucking hard on her flesh.

She moaned, the heat still pulsing between her legs. He slid down her body, his lips leaving a moist trail as he went down over her breasts, over her flat stomach, into the shock of hair nestled between her parting legs.

He felt the water hitting his back, pouring down, soaking through his shirt. He should have undressed before he plunged into the lake, but it was too late to worry about that now. He kissed the tuft of hair before letting his tongue run between her lips, gently gliding over the swollen flesh, teasing her mercilessly.

Cuddy cried out as House flipped his long tongue in and out of her fast then slow, then up and down then side to side. He kept changing, keeping her guessing as to what was coming next.

As soon as he felt her cum, he fell back into the lake. Water splashed up around him as he felt himself sink deep into its warm arms. Cuddy dived in after him, her smooth body brushing along his under the water. He felt her hair, like silk floating against his body.

He grabbed her under the water, and pulled her into his arms. They came up for air together then he pulled her back under. He squeezed her ass, buoyancy had changed the way it felt in his hands. He pulled her ass toward him. He could feel her fumbling with his pants. She pulled him out of his pants just in time to sink him deep inside her.

They twisted and turned in the water, bobbing up and under the water, catching their breath, before plunging back into the depths.

It didn't take long to make him come. He'd been holding it in for what seemed like hours. When it was over, both their bodies floated exhaustedly toward the water's edge. House leaned against some shallow rocks while Cuddy laid her head on his shoulder.

"I thought you didn't want to go swimming," Cuddy said innocently, after they'd caught their breath.

"A man can change his mind."

"Not you, you're the most stubborn man I know." She tightened her grip on his arm and felt her body rising to the surface of the water.

"Stubborn like a bull, hung like a bull." He turned to face her and pulled her tightly in his arms.

"Too bad you smell like a bull too." She pushed his head under the water. He pulled her down with him and they came out together, lips locked in a deep kiss.

"Oh, you better take that back!" She had escaped his grasp so he swam after her, water splashing everywhere. Then it happened and he cursed every god whose name he could think of, and some whose names he made up as he went along.

A flash of pain tore through his body. It paralyzed him. He felt himself sinking under the calm blue water of the lagoon. He didn't try to fight, satisfied that the last moments of his life had been spent making hot love to his hot wife under a small waterfall on a beautiful tropical island. If he had to go, this was as good a way as any.

"House!" He heard her scream muffled through the water that surrounded him. He felt her pulling on him, tugging him. He felt the surface of the water break over their heads and took a deep gasp of air. "Are you alright?" She sounded terrified, desperate. He wanted so badly to lie to her, tell her he was fine, but he just couldn't.

"My leg…" he was out of breath.

"What happened?" She had pulled him to shore and was checking his vitals like a good doctor.

"Cramp." He didn't want to go into it.

"I'm sorry." The guilt kicked in. He knew it would. He used to use it against her, manipulate her through her own guilty conscious, but he couldn't do it now. It was just too cruel.

"It wasn't your fault." He tried to remember if he'd ever said those words to anyone before. He was sure he must have, but he seemed to have blocked it out of his mind.

"House, I pushed you too hard. After yesterday…" She was rubbing his chest therapeutically.

"I don't want to talk about yesterday." He pulled himself up and away from her.

"I know. But…"

"Don't ruin this." He just wanted to enjoy the day, the love they'd just made, the sun shining down through the surrounding trees, the peace. He didn't want it dampened by talk of his inadequacies.

Cuddy had to fight to hold back. There were so many things she wanted to tell him, but they were things he didn't want to hear. "Come lay down." She pulled a towel out of her bag and put it down in the sand, in a spot where the sun would dry them off and warm them up.

House pulled his pill bottle out of her bag and drained it into his mouth. He had no idea how many pills were left in there, and it didn't matter. Too many would not have been enough to deal with the pain he was feeling deep inside him. Then he went and lay beside her.

"You should take your clothes off to dry."

"NO!" House did not want that damned scar to be shining up at him in the bright sunlight. He didn't want her staring at it that way she did, with that sadness in her eyes. He wanted to forget it existed. There were times when he wanted to cut it the hell off, but he couldn't. It was a part of him, and he couldn't remove a part of him no matter how much pain it caused him.

They both fell silent, staring up at the sky or the lush beauty around them, anything but at each other. After a long few minutes passed, House reached out for her hand. He laced his fingers between hers. He still didn't look at her for fear she was looking back, or say anything to her for fear of it being the wrong thing, but he lay there, holding her hand to remind himself that she was there.

Cuddy watched the clouds roll by. She almost said something, when he took her hand, but remained silent, simply enjoying the fact that he hadn't pushed her away. Her heart had finally fallen back into its slow, steady rhythm after having been shaken by the image of House's slowly sinking body.

She had almost lost him…again. It was a thought she didn't let herself have too often. It was far too painful.

The first time he had nearly died at her hands was during a complication from the surgery she'd had done for his Infarction. He had died, for a few seconds, before she went against his wishes and brought him back. At that point she had thought their friendship would never recover from her conspiring against him with his girlfriend Stacy, so she really had nothing more to lose.

Still, he had made her pay. Lawsuits piled up on her desk daily. He'd posted nude college photos of her in the hospital cafeteria, cancelled her meetings, sabotaged her dates, and scarred off donors. Anything he could think of to ruin her life, he did without hesitation.

It had to be worse for Stacy though, living with him. In the first few weeks after his surgery, Stacy would come in crying every morning and talking about how he never moved from the couch. He was barely eating, didn't sleep, didn't talk to her, he simply laid there watching television and popping pills chased down with booze. It was her friends desperate pleading that made Cuddy go see him and ask him to come back to work.

She still remembered the sight of him, laying listlessly on the couch, a mere shadow of the man she admired. She made polite small talk, "How are you? Is everything okay?" The typical ritual one goes through when visiting an invalid. But he didn't respond. His only answer to her heart felt pleas was to turn up the television.

Obviously compassion wasn't going to work. Cuddy walked over and yanked the TV cord out of the wall. "As your doctor I am asking you if you are medically suitable to return to work." She had her hands on her hips, trying to look and sound more authoritative than her 32 years made her feel.

"No." House pointlessly used the remote, trying to make the television come back on without electricity. Finally he gave up and threw it at her.

Cuddy bobbed out of the way quickly. "Well you can't stay here, doing…this." She looked around at the large amount of nothing he'd been doing.

"Well, I'm no longer capable of doing anything else," he shot back making a bitter gesture toward his leg.

"House, you're not dead." She knelt down in front of him. "I know it's hard…"

"Do you? Really?" He spoke with a cruel edge in his voice that she'd never heard in him before. "You know what it's like to have the woman you love betray you, to conspire against you to destroy your life?"

"Stacy did what she felt was right." She didn't notice the strange flash of confusion that crossed his face. "She saved your life House."

"The two of you condemned me to a living hell." He was angry. It was an uncontrollable rage. He wanted her to get away from him before he did something, before he lost control of the rage and hurt her. But he knew she wouldn't move away. "I can't walk!"

"You can." She was getting frustrated. This was not the man she knew. "You just have to work at it House. You're never going to get better if you sit around here all day. Come back to work…"

"HA!" He used his new cane to push her. She fell onto the floor. She looked like she was about to cry, but he didn't care. Her pain would never match what he was going through. "How do you think I am going to accomplish that?" He gave her a demonstration of just how much he couldn't go back to work.

He pushed the cane deep into the floor and grabbed the arm of the sofa with his free hand. Then he pulled himself with great effort to his feet. As soon as he attempted the first step, he went crashing to the floor. Luckily he was on enough pain killers that the fall didn't hurt him that much.

"Oh!" Cuddy rushed over to him and pulled his head into her lap. "I…" She was going to cry.

"Don't!" He snapped. The last thing he needed was another irrational, guilty female crying all over him.

It took a few more weeks of Cuddy coming over every day, and forcing him to try to walk, mainly by annoying him into it, before he was on his feet and mobile enough to go back to the hospital. Once that happened, his relationship with Stacy was all but over. He hardly ever left the hospital and she was eventually driven away by the loneliness and pain he'd caused her.

She turned and looked over at House. He was sleeping soundly. She kissed his forehead gently and whispered in his ear. "I'm sorry House, for everything." She kissed him again then got up and went for a swim.

House woke up a few hours later, famished. "You didn't pack a lunch did you?" He was sorry to see her dressed and sitting on a rock looking at the pictures she'd taken on her camera.

"I packed some snacks." She put the camera down and went to get her bag.

"I can get it," House grumbled as he pulled himself to his feet. His clothes had dried in the sun and felt a little crispy as he walked through the sand to her bag of goodies. He fumbled around until he found some apples. "Want one?" He asked. When she said yes he tossed an apple over to her then followed it on foot.

"Let me take your picture." Cuddy fumbled around changing the memory card before holding up the camera but all she got was an extreme close up of the palm of his hand as he took the camera from her.

"Come here." He pulled her into his arm and held the camera as far away as his long arm would allow. He knew it was cheesy, but he wanted a picture of them together.

"My hair looks awful." She was looking at the picture in fright.

"You look beautiful." He wasn't just saying it. He never just said things. Of course, when she was dressed to the nines, hair pulled up, makeup perfect she looked stunning, or in her power suits, with cleavage down to there and skirts so tight he could tell what she was wearing underneath she looked sexy as hell, but right in this moment, with no make up, her bra and panties substituting as a bikini, she looked absolutely beautiful.

She fought off a smile. "I'm still made at you." She turned her back to sulk.

"Why?" He slipped the bra strap off her shoulder and positioned the camera to catch her when she turned to pull it up.

"Stop!" She blushed and cocked her head adorably to one side. "You haven't apologized to me yet."

"Is that all?" He pretended it was no big deal, that she should be passed it all, but if it made her feel better, he would patronize her with an apology. "Well, Mrs. House, I am deeply sorry that you…" she hit him. She knew he was going to screw around with his apology. "Cuddy, I'm sorry about yesterday." He leaned over and kissed her forehead sweetly.

"It's not your fault House." She leaned into him for a hug, nestling between his long legs.

He let her stay where she was, but just had to say something.

"Don't ruin the moment," she ordered quietly.

They stayed at the lagoon, laying arm in arm for most of the afternoon, talking about boring things that didn't much matter just to enjoy the sound of each other's voices. It was nice, and warm and safe, but it had to end eventually, and House knew he'd have to be the one to end it.

He'd depleted his supply of Vicodin and had to get back to the Villa to see if his package had come.

The walk back was much shorter. House was running out of time. He could feel the dull pain starting to inch its way from the epicenter of his thigh through the rest of his body in a slow, agonizing wave and Cuddy had taken all the pictures she needed on the way there. She also recognized that look in his eye and knew what was coming.

House pushed his way into the villa and nearly dove at the package sitting on the table. He pulled at the tab, and tore at the ends of the heavy cardboard box, but the only thing that seemed to accomplish was making him more agitated.

"Here, give it to me." Cuddy held out her hand patently and waited for him to slam the box into it. She went over to one of the kitchen drawers and pulled out a knife. With one quick swipe, she cut through the cardboard, freeing up his pills.

"Thanks," House mumbled as he twisted open a bottle and poured its contents into his mouth. He didn't quite empty it before Cuddy grabbed the bottle and pulled it away from him.

"That's enough."

"Don't tell me what's enough," House shouted, but did nothing more. She was right. He had already taken enough to fade the pain. He just needed to wait for them to start working. In the meantime, he pulled the map over and stared at it.

"Are you still determined to find this treasure of yours?" Cuddy handed him a glass of water.

"Yes I'm STILL determined to find the treasure." It was a treasure. How was he going to just drop it? "I'm going to figure this map out." He spit out the water he'd just sipped. "What the hell is this?"

She choked back a laugh. "It's water House."

"Well, put something in it." He pushed the glass across the table. She caught it just before it went off the edge.

"Yes master," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"That's right," he mumbled under his breath, not quite loud enough for her to hear. That didn't stop him from getting into the role however. "And where's my dinner?" He banged his mighty staff aka his cane, on the floor in a very lordly manor.

"Coming right up," and she was quite tempted to have it come right back down, on his head.

House cleared his throat.

"Not gonna happen House," she said quickly, nipping that little game in the bud.

"You're no fun."

Cuddy brought their dinner to the table and sat down across from him. "You want a little fun?"

"Uh huh," he nodded excitedly.

"How about a little wager?" The wheels were already turning.

"Okay." He was always up for a chance to beat her at something.

"I bet, I can find the treasure before you do. And when I do…"

"IF you do, which you won't, but I'll let you go ahead and dream."

She glared at him for a moment. "WHEN I win, you have to be my slave for an entire day. Doing whatever I tell you to do." Oh, this could be fun.

"And when I win," he grinned so wide it hurt, "YOU will be MY slave." This was going to be awesome!

Cuddy balked slightly. There was a very strong chance that her plan could backfire. But it was too late to turn back now." You've got yourself a deal."

They shook on it, both feeling confident enough in their inevitable win that they began coming up with lists of slavely duties for the other while they finished eating in evil plotting silence.