here's the new chapter: does this budding 'thing' have any chance to become something other than just sex. here're some hints to find out...

** CHAPTER 13 **

House pulled Cuddy into him and leaned forward to claim her mouth. Less than twenty-four hours had passed since he'd held her tight against him and yet, he was furiously missing the feeling, already. The sensation of her lips on his lips made him feel dizzy. As soon as he grabbed her, she stood up on tiptoe and he firmly held her close, one hand flat on the small of her back, the other circling her nape. Their tongues met and twisted together, as they tickled each other's palate, licking the corner of their mouth before thrusting inside again, while their teeth gently nibbled the skin around and under their lips. House moaned and parted from their kiss, brushing his lips on her cheeks, along the line of her jaw and down her neck, which Cuddy instantly stretched, sighing lasciviously.

The sensation was too powerful, and House grabbed her by the shoulders before pushing her against the wall. He looked at her, breathless, and bent to kiss her again greedily, thirstily, his hands making their way under her cardigan and inside her yoga pants, avidly groping her ass. Cuddy seized the lapels of his leather jacket and yanked him to her, arching her back forward and unreservedly surrendering to his pressing desire.

Then, just as House was about to take it to the next level, his hand brushing the hem of her panties and finding its way to her wet slit, she pushed him back with all her might and looked at him, pleadingly.

"Wait!" she panted.

He shot her a quizzical look, half-intrigued and half-amused by her sudden, irrational need to slow things down. She was shaky on her legs and her face was all flushed. There were no evident signs that she wanted to stop this, so House chose to take it as his cue to move to a more appropriate and comfortable environment. He took her by the hand and guided her down the hallway. When he walked past her living room, he came to an abrupt halt, ready to let her decide which direction they should take. He wasn't entirely against another round on a sofa. Actually, he could have made love to her right against that wall in her entry and he didn't care if his leg would most likely make him pay for it the next morning because, in that very moment, he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in her body.

Down the hallway, there was a soft light coming out of her bedroom and House closed his eyes, secretly longing for the moment when she would guide him there: That unique, timeless moment when he would follow Lisa Cuddy to her bedroom… He opened his eyes and caught her burning gaze before leaning down to her mouth again to give her a kiss, but she held her hand up in the space between her face and his lips and stopped him.

"Wait!" she said again. "We need to talk first."

Totally ignoring her request, House skirted her hand and tipped his head down to her face, kissing her earlobe and grazing her skin with his stubble down to her neck. He felt her irresistibly loosen in his arms even though she stubbornly kept on commanding him to stop, but it was impossible for him to comply as everything in her body language was screaming the opposite.

His hands had moved under her cardigan and found their way under her tee-shirt, and he realized with wonder that she wasn't wearing a bra. Her naked skin was shivering under his touch as he was stroking her back and enveloping her shoulders in his hands, sliding down to the front of her body. He cupped one of her breasts in his palm and teased her erect nipple with his fingertips. She gasped and he grabbed hold of her thigh, guiding it to his hips and wrapping her leg around his waist.

Firmly holding the back of her knee in his hand, House pushed himself against her and dived in to kiss her again. There was no denying the fact that she wanted this as badly as he did, but she started to fidget in his arms pushing his hands away from her and when she finally extricated herself from his embrace, she stared at him with an intense gaze.

"House, please stop!" she said, in a voice that felt both imploring but determined to hang on to the last remnant of willpower she still had in her.

His craving for her was too strong, though, and in that moment, there was literally no conversation House was willing to have that justified for him to stop. He wanted her and he knew she wanted him. He bent down again and reached for her waist to pull her into him.

"C'mon, you're zesty, I'm frisky. Let's have a bit of nooky!" he said with a boyish grin.

Cuddy puffed, visibly upset, and shot him a glare.

"House, stop acting like an adolescent sex maniac! Can't you just be serious for one minute?"

He flashed her a cocky smile and seized her hand, guiding it to the front of his pants to palm his hard-on.

"Oh, but I am very serious! Do you feel how serious-"

Cuddy strongly removed her hand from his and punched him angrily on the chest. She took a step back and stood at reasonable distance, looking at him with eyes filled with disappointment.

"So that's what it is?" she stated in a sad voice. "This is just about sex?"

"Of course not! It's not just about sex!" House thought. "But for fuck's sake, couldn't it at least be right now"? He looked at her with innocent, begging eyes and tugged at her cardigan's sleeve playfully.

"Don't blame me. Blame your sexy, arousing body instead!" he said, playing the humoristic card.

"I'm not saying I don't want this. I do. But I need to know something first."

She looked confused, but mostly sorry and, when she came close enough to him to take his fingers in her hand and brushed them with the tip of her thumb, House instantly knew he had lost that battle. He huffed and pursed his lips into a sulky pout.

"Ok, hit me," he muttered resignedly, wondering what twisted answer she wanted to drag out of him.

"Yesterday, you said you needed me, but you'd never said that to me before. Not … that way."

"Damn her!" he thought. "Why did women always have that irrepressible need to spoil every magical moment with their obsessive urge for talking?"

Yes, he needed her. In that way that was not just sexual. But he was lousy at confessions, and he would never find the right words to explain to her how she made him feel. So why even try when it would necessarily come out all wrongly phrased?

House felt suddenly uncomfortable. He thought that was really unfair of her to ask him that because he knew why he was there. He could feel every reason why. And not just inside his pants, but everywhere. Why would he need to say it out loud when it was so bluntly evident? Knowing it was the only thing that mattered. And he wished it were the same for her.

He sighed heavily and looked down at his feet, trying to avoid her gaze, hoping it would offer him a way out of this, while perfectly knowing that it wouldn't because she was too stubborn, and he knew there was no way she was going to let him get away with it that easily. Not until he'd have given her what she wanted. And he knew he'd be incapable of resisting her, eventually.

Still staring at his feet, House decided to go for the obvious explanation first, something not too self-involving but something that was the most indisputable reason he could find, one that couldn't be rationalized because it was just a fact and something he'd learned to deal with over the years.

"I need you because you're my boss. You have veto power over my medical decisions."

He raised his face to her and smirked ironically because, somehow, that was the first time he shared that truth in front of her.

Cuddy shot him a I know better look, but still jutted her chin up and smiled proudly. Her silence was stubbornly louder than his, though, and House knew he had to give her something else.

"You're attractive. You attract me. I'm attracted to you," he offered sheepishly.

Her smile softened and she tilted her head down, trying to hide the fact that she was touched. He naively thought it would be enough and that they would resume their hot foreplay session, so he stared at her expectantly with his eyebrows raised, in an expression that silently shouted Good, are we done now? Cuddy looked up and adorably fluttered her eyelids, and he really thought that he'd gotten away with it then.

"House, do you want a relationship?" she inquired out of the blue, narrowing her beautiful, light blue eyes at him and studying his reaction.

"Wow, and next question will be do I want to marry you?" he joked, in a perfect Housian smartass fashion.

But Cuddy didn't buy it. She didn't even give him an angry look. She just kept waiting patiently for him to be sincere.

"I don't know," House finally confessed in a low voice.

Caught off guard by his answer, she instantly looked hurt and turned her head away. It was visibly not the answer she was expecting but he couldn't lie to her, and it was the only genuinely sincere answer he could offer. He didn't think his reasons for telling her that were mean or sarcastic. He only wanted her to understand. He took a step closer to her and gently lifted her chin up with his finger to make her look at him again. When their eyes met, still holding her chin up so that she wouldn't look away, he then tried to explain.

"I don't know is my most sincere answer. Cuddy, I can't promise you anything. You probably think that I'm a jerk right now but I'm not that kind of jerk. I can't lie to you and tell you the answer you'd want to hear, the one that'd be so easy for me to say just to please you… But I can tell you one thing, though: Yesterday, when I saw that you'd left, I-"

His voice choked on the last words, and he fell silent. Cuddy stared at him intensely waiting for him to complete his sentence but, instead, House removed his finger from under her chin and sighed heavily, looking away.

This time, she was the one who came closer, and she cupped his cheek into her palm, turning his head to face her.

"Then what?" she asked in a gentle voice that said it was ok for him to tell her how he'd felt.

House grabbed her waist, possessively, and tugged at her to bring her in his arms.

"Then I didn't like that," he said with a sulky voice.

Cuddy laughed and he felt her relax in his embrace. He started ticking her earlobe with his tongue, while one of his hands sloped up under her tee-shirt, making a subtle move toward her breast.

"I was really, really sad," he groaned, his breath quickening when he felt the round flesh fill his hand.

He tightened his embrace and brought her even closer against him. "I need you to comfort me," he wheedled.

She laughed again as she felt his erection pressed against her hips, undoubtedly telling her how urgent his need indeed was.

"I thought we said no sex," she teased bringing their banter to a deliciously torturous level as she pushed him away gently.

But, quite unexpectedly, House caught her at her own game and suddenly extricated from their embrace.

"You're right! Who need sex anyway when there're so many funnier things to do?" he exclaimed extravagantly.

And without further comment, he started to march down her hallway decidedly.

"Where are you going?" Cuddy called after him

Rooted to her spot, she watched him leave, totally bemused, as House was headed toward her bedroom.

"You owe me forty gallons of hot, steaming water," he answered gleefully. "And you're going to pay them back to me, right now! With bubbles!"

(...)

A/N

Ok so I'm officially back from my vacation spot, which was such a cool and quiet place... but I guess every good thing must come to an end...
I saw more of you started to express themselves and that is such a great thing! thank you so much for your reviews! I really appreciate them.

I hope you were happy to see that House indeed intends to let Cuddy know about the bath... which means in House language...: possible bubble schmex ahead! :-D

have a wonderful day! ~ maya