Howard walked into Leonard's lab. "Question for you. Have you noticed anything unusual about Sheldon?"
"How much time ya got?" Leonard quipped.
"Seriously," Howard tugged at his red mock turtle neck." You haven't noticed anything?"
Leonard shook his head and handed Howard safety glasses since he was about to turn on the laser. Howard tried again, "Have you recently acquired a cat?"
"You know Sheldon is allergic."
Howard sighed. No wonder Leonard's research never went anywhere- he was oblivious. Howard , however, was still reeling from his encounter with Sheldon this morning.
He had gone to the physicist to ask him if he wanted to see the new pictures sent from space. Sheldon's door was ajar so Howard walked right in. Sheldon was perched on the corner of his desk, tracing deep, raw gouges on his right forearm with a long index finger.
"What the frak?" Howard exclaimed. Sheldon jerked his head up and he winced as he hurriedly pulled his sleeve down over the scored skin. Howard also caught the ghost of Sheldon's impish grin before it was replaced by his visage of haughty derision.
"Did you have a run-in with another hell-hound or hell-cat, I should say." Howard jeered.
"What do you want?"
"Never mind what I want. I'd much rather find out what or who" he raised his eyebrows," has been taking shots at you."
Sheldon crossed his arms, trying not to flinch with pain. When he got his hands on Penny…oh, that was the wrong train of thought because he flushed instantly.
"Howard, I'm not interested in divulging details of my life for your titillation."
"Titillation." Howard snorted..
"Out!" Sheldon pointed to his door. "If I have to tell you again, that will earn you two more strikes."
Howard left and went to find Leonard.
"Why the sudden interest in Sheldon?" Leonard asked.
Howard opened his mouth to answer then changed his mind. It was best to keep his thoughts to himself so that, once he did discover what was going on, it would be that much more dramatic. Of one thing he was sure: Schrödinger's cat, by way of Sheldon, was alive.
XXXX
Knock, knock, knock
"Penny."
Knock, knock, knock
"Penny."
Knock, knock, knock
"Penny."
She stumbled to her door. It was 7Am- that man clearly had a death wish. When she opened the door, Sheldon thrust a wad of money in her face.
"Pay your cable bill." He ordered. Penny blinked the sleep from her eyes.
"What?"
"I don't care if you never pay me back. Just take care of the bill." Sheldon pushed the money toward her. Penny rubbed her left eye and , vision cleared, looked up at Sheldon. He was staring at her and she realized she had answered the door clad only in a man's sleeveless white t-shirt and purple polka-dot panties. Sheldon couldn't seem to move his eyes from her nipples which showed through the thin fabric.
"I'm not taking money from you." She said flatly.
The numbers that dictated the circumference of her areola, the hyperbola of her breasts and the increase in his pulse skittered through his brain taking up the room he needed for string theory and dark matter research. He had to put a stop to whatever this was, regain control, return to science.
"Are we done here?" Penny pulled him from his thoughts. Sheldon nodded, turned as if to leave then spun back and gathered her in his arms. He leaned in to kiss her but she averted her head so his lips landed just under her jaw. He set to work, kissing and pulling at the softness there. Penny grabbed his shoulders while Sheldon, without even having to reach, put his left hand behind her knee and pulled her leg up.
Penny gasped as he pulled her against him. His head traveled downward until his lips landed on her collarbone. She moaned causing Sheldon to give her a strong nip.
"Sh..Sheldon," Penny's breathing was erratic. "Leonard."
He trailed his lips up to her ear and glanced at his watch which was behind her.
"Ten more minutes." he whispered. Ten more minutes and Penny was pretty sure she'd explode in her doorway. Sheldon tried once more to capture her lips but she pushed him off.
"Later." She promised. "Go to work. I'll see you later."
Later was when it all began to spin out of control.
XXXX
Sheldon entered the lobby. He was relieved to find it empty. His plan was to get his mail then go upstairs to soak his arm. It was killing him; perversely, whenever he looked at it, he experienced significant increased activity in the left anterior cingulate cortex and the right insula of his brain. This resulted in a clear sensory recall of the feel of Penny's neck in his mouth, the warmth between her legs. It's a wonder he got any work done today. More troubling was how much he wanted it all again.
He turned from his mailbox to find Penny behind him. "Hello Penny," He greeted, placing his mail in his messenger bag. "You're home early."
"Yeah, well, I was up early this morning." She gathered her mail. Bills, ugh! Sheldon either didn't pick up on her dig about his wake-up call or chose to ignore it. They headed up the stairs..
"How was the 'hash slinging' today?" Sheldon made finger quotes in the air.
"Pretty good. Lots of tourists. Excellent tips." They crossed the second landing.
"Where's Leonard?" Penny brushed her bangs back.
"He's taken his vehicle for an oil change. I was going to keep him company but, if he delayed, I would have to take the bus and my bungee cords are in my closet."
"I'm surprised you don't carry a spare set. Just in case."
Sheldon stopped walking as did Penny. "I never thought of that." He was serious.
Penny's feelings were conflicted. On one hand, she was glad that their old dynamic seemed to have re-established itself. Still, she missed seeing the hunger for her in Sheldon's eyes and the memory of his hips rubbing into her from this morning had occupied her most of the day. That's why she probably earned good tips- she smiled a lot today.
"How's your arm?" She asked just as they neared their floor.
It was the wrong thing to say.
No sooner had they reached the top step when Sheldon grabbed Penny's shoulders and threw her back against the elevator doors. The "Out of Order" sign ripped and Sheldon watched, head down, as it hit the floor. When Penny recovered from her initial shock, she struggled against his weight, but he was surprisingly strong and held her fast. She looked up into Sheldon's face and saw that his eyes were cold slits shining back at her and his nostrils were flaring.
"Do you know," he growled in a voice Penny didn't recognize, "how many bacteria inhabit the underside of a human fingernail?"
It took all of Penny's will power not to look down at Sheldon's forearm. The tiniest of smirks escaped instead and she could hear Sheldon grinding his teeth in response. Without warning, Sheldon brushed back the collar of her uniform and sank his teeth into the same spot he had before. Only this time, he bit down hard. Penny gasped in pain and alarm and whimpered as the back of her head hit the elevator doors. White lights burst behind her eyes and she wondered if she was bleeding when she felt Sheldon begin to suck on her neck. Surely he wouldn't have bitten her that hard, not after that whole spiel about germs a few minutes ago.
After what seemed like an eternity, Sheldon let her go and took a few steps back. Penny touched her neck and looked at her fingers. No blood, but she could definitely feel a mark. Now it was Sheldon's turn to smirk and it was then that she noticed the warm damp spreading between her legs.
"You rat bastard," Penny swore and she lunged at him full force. Sheldon tried to step back, but she grabbed what little hair she could and pulled him toward her, nearly sending them both sprawling on the floor. She used her handful of hair to turn him and push him toward her apartment with her body. Before she could throw him against her door, he grabbed her waist and turned them around. Her back hit the door before she knew what was happening or how to stop it. Sheldon bent his head down and brushed his lips against her, but she pulled his hair again, causing him to cry out in pain. Reaching his hand back behind him, he grabbed her fingers and yanked them away from his head, then gripping her wrist, held it above her head against the door. Swiftly, he used his other hand to pull at her collar just enough to expose the top of her breast and bit down. Tears welled up in Penny's eyes and she quickly began to lose control of her breathing.
"Why can't I kiss you?" Sheldon's gravelly voice sounded in between his bites in the same spot. When Penny didn't answer, he tried kissing her again, leading with his tongue. Penny couldn't back away, so she moved her head to the side instead and felt his tongue and lips hit her hot cheek.
"Sheldon," she panted, "if you keep trying to kiss me, I'm going to put those bungee cords to good use."
Sheldon gripped her tighter and smirked and Penny could feel something wet trailing down her inner thigh.
"I'd like to see you try."
Penny's eyes widened and if Sheldon hadn't been holding her so tightly, she probably would have fallen. She tried to give him her best innocent look, but he was staring at the stairwell, head cocked to the side.
"Someone's coming," he whispered. Penny knew better than to question Sheldon's hearing, so when he let her go to straighten his hair and shirts, she slinked back into her apartment.
Howard and Raj came up the stairs to find Sheldon staring at Penny's door.
"Are you lost?" Raj called.
Sheldon turned. "What are you doing here?" His eyes had a funny cast to them and his lips were swollen.
"It's Wednesday." Howard reminded him while making note of Sheldon's features and the torn elevator sign.
Sheldon blinked. Wednesday? Why was that important when Penny wouldn't kiss him and he was pretty sure he had just challenged her to tie him up with bungee cords?
"HALO." Raj stressed.
"Of course," Sheldon snapped out of his haze and opened the door to let them in. "Leonard should be back soon. Excuse me for a moment."
He headed for the bathroom to treat his arm. Raj's and Howard's comments followed him.
"What was that all about?"
"Cat scratch fever." Howard replied.
XXXX
He wasn't alone. He could sense it; the presence lurking just in front of him. Sheldon shot up from his bed only to be yanked back down. Home invasion! He struggled once more and opened his mouth to shout for Leonard when a light beamed into his eyes.
"Not a word!"
Sheldon ducked his head under the beam. Penny was sitting at the foot of his bed, holding a flashlight.