here's the new chapter: baby steps, but leading to more intimacy, nonetheless...
** CHAPTER 37 **
Cuddy knocked on House's door two hours later just as she'd said she would.
But he was in his bathroom and didn't hear her at first. So, she knocked a little harder and waited with her ear almost against the door to try and hear the familiar sound of his limping pace. She had her hand up in the air, ready to knock again when the door swung open to him standing almost naked in front of her, just wearing a towel wrapped around his waist. When he saw her, he grinned widely and seized her left arm to yank her inside. She stumbled and clang to him not to lose her balance. He kicked the door shut with his foot and welcomed her in his arms.
"I almost waited," House said, smothering her face with kisses.
"You're stepping out of the shower. How can you possibly pretend you were waiting?" Cuddy exclaimed, chuckling and stretching her neck to give in to his teasing nibbling.
"Because I'm shameless," he answered, softening his kisses, and softly brushing his lips up and down her neck.
She placed her palms on his bare chest and rubbed it leisurely while he grabbed her coat's lapels and peeled her off it. The coat slid on the floor, and she wrapped her arms around his waist to embrace him, leaning her forehead against his torso and breathing in the fresh scent of his shower gel. He cupped her head with both his hands and caressed her hair. The sensation sent voluptuous thrills of pleasure in her back, and she tilted her head forward, stroking his nude skin with her face. But House gently extricated himself from her embrace and took a step back.
"Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back!" he said hastily limping toward his bedroom.
"What are you doing?" Cuddy asked, feeling frustrated by the sudden interruption of their tender hug as she stood alone in his entry,
"I'm getting dressed," he cried out from the other end of the hallway.
"Do you need help?" she offered, suggestively, as she started walking toward his bedroom.
"Stay away, you little voyeur!" His voice made her stop halfway. He popped his head out of the door frame and grinned. "There's wine in the fridge. Pour us a glass."
"You drink wine, now?" she asked surprised.
"Scram!" he exclaimed.
She couldn't repress a laugh and docilely headed to the kitchen. A few minutes later, she'd served two glasses of wine and put them on House's coffee table in the living room. She was seated on the couch and waiting for him. She heard the characteristic sound of his limp in the hallway and tipped her head back, welcoming him with a warm smile. He walked past the sofa and plopped down next to her, dropping his cane on the floor. She bent over to take the glasses of wine, but he held her gesture back.
"Wait! I have something I want to give you first."
Cuddy frowned, intrigued, and studied him closely.
"What? What something?"
House enjoyed seeing her getting almost worried in anticipation and he rummaged in his jeans pocket to retrieve a small leather box that he then handed over to her.
"What's that?" Cuddy asked keeping her hands close to her, visibly not daring to take the box.
"Open it and you'll find out."
He reached out his hand and playfully brandished the box in front of her.
"Come on, take it! Don't freak out, it's not an engagement ring!" he teased.
She glared at him and finally took the box from his hand. He beamed and attentively studied her reaction while she opened it. She gaped when she saw its content and took it out of the box.
"A key?" she said, breathless.
"Yeah, mine," House clarified, although he assumed she perfectly knew that it was. "I thought that, since you're already spending a lot of time at my place… you might as well be able to sneak in on your own."
Cuddy intensely stared at him, speechless, completely awestruck by the significance of that gesture, especially coming from him.
"You sure?" she finally managed to ask, finding it hard to acknowledge the idea that House could have taken such a big, significant step.
"No, you're right, I'm not sure. Give it back," he teased.
He tried to snatch the key from her, but she closed her fist tightly around it, throwing her hand out of his reach.
"Nope!" she said, holding her hand up in the air.
He smiled victoriously at her and slouched back in the couch.
"So, you're taking it," he stated confidently more than he asked.
She sighed and let her arm fall down on her lap, opening her hand.
"It's a big step," she said in a low voice, staring down at the key.
"It's just a key," he said reassuringly, though unable to suppress the awkward uneasiness that was creeping up inside of him just then.
"Yes but… is it really what you want?" she insisted, looking him straight in the eyes again.
"I want you," he asserted with a steady voice, making it sound unequivocal. "The key is just a way to make it easier for you to be here. What is there to freak out about?"
Cuddy sucked on her lower lip self-consciously, feeling suddenly stupid and inappropriately suspicious.
"Nothing," she whispered. "But-"
House straightened up and turned to face her on the couch. He placed his index finger under her chin and gently lifted her face up.
"No 'but'..." he said. He took a deep breath and a fleeting glimpse of disenchantment passed behind his eyes: "No one say you need to reciprocate and give me your key."
She tried to free herself from his grip and he let go of her chin. Instantly she averted her eyes and bowed her head. He sighed and gently cupped her cheek in his palm. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, imprisoning his hand between her cheek and her shoulder. He cupped her other cheek with his hand and gently tilted her head up again, leaning down to kiss her. She opened her eyes and offered her lips to him, and he kissed her softly while his fingers delicately brushed the side of her face.
Three words, now. House had them on the tip of his tongue and he was dying to say them.
Three words.
They locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity but they both kept silent.
Suddenly breaking the silence, House leaned down to the coffee table and took the two glasses of wine. He handed one over to her and raised his in front of him.
"We need to drink a toast! To the sweet fear in my woman's eyes," he said with a slight disillusion in his tone, chinking glasses.
Cuddy couldn't tell what struck her most: The fact that he thought she could be scared or the sweet use of the possessive pronoun. A voluptuous quiver shook the small of her back and she drank a sip of her wine, coming closer to him. So close she was now breathing against the pulp of his lips.
"Your woman is not scared," she whispered, deliberately putting the emphasis on the two words that had taken her off guard merely seconds before.
"She isn't?"
"No."
And she playfully bit his bottom lip. House slightly jumped backward and she carefully took his glass out of his hand, putting it back on the table along with hers. Without a word, she got up and went to take her purse and, as she stood in front of him, she very conspicuously slid his key inside it.
House remained seated on the sofa, absolutely still but he followed her every movement as if he were hypnotized. She tossed her purse on the floor and looked down at his face, mesmerized by the immensity of his blue eyes on her. His stare was so intense, it felt as if he was undressing her with the power of his gaze only. Unable to resist his call, she carefully bent her leg and put one knee on the sofa, next to his thigh. She leaned to his face, putting one hand on his chest to keep her balance, and slid her other hand under his shirt and then she sensually stroked his midriff.
"Why did you have to put clothes on? Such a waste of time," she complained sulkily. "Now I have to undress you all over again."
"You want to undress me?" House said teasingly. "You'll have to earn that right before."
"What do you mean, earn?"
He grabbed her by the wrists and straightened up, forcing her to stand up again. She pouted and narrowed her eyes at him quizzically. He flashed a roguish smile at her and stood up as well.
"I know a game," he said, mysteriously. "Do you want to play with me?"
She tilted her head to the side, visibly intrigued, and smiled knowingly, definitely telling she was, indeed, in a mood for game.
"What kind of game?" she purred, coming closer and sensually rubbing herself against him.
As she did, she rose on her tiptoe to divert his attention with a kiss and deftly started unbuttoning his shirt. He leaned down to her face to welcome her kiss but promptly seized her hands and moved them away from his shirt.
"You little cheater!" he breathed against her lips. "The game hasn't started yet. You didn't earn the right to do that."
Cuddy moaned in protest and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him down again. She wasn't playing fair, and her arguments were convincing. It took House all his remaining will power not to surrender to her call, but he did. He extricated himself from her embrace and took a step backward.
"You hungry?"
"Screw dinner!" she said pressing her body against him. "That's not food I'm hungry for."
He beamed when he acknowledged how impatient she was. It made him want to play even more. He put his hands on her shoulders and stared compellingly at her.
"Stop protesting!" he ordered. "My game. My rules. And you better be hungry."
(…)
A/N
the recurring question seems to be about a certain "morning after" and its significance, since there're several mentions of it lately in the comments...
so, as I said when I posted it in here, "If You Let Me, I Might Try" is a story that I first posted in the FanFiction section of Fox Forum show community of House. there, the story is way ahead of where it's at here (even if it's still in progress). But let's say that there're at least 150 more pages there (in the Fox Forum) compared to here (in ff) so there is, indeed, something involving a morning after, but I don't want to spoil the plot by telling you what it is.
and, if I may, maybe it'd be best not to make too many references in here about the plot and characters there, so that the people who only read this story here can still have the surprise of discovering what the storyline holds in store for them...
to huddles777, GD in Fox means the General Discussion section in the Fox Forum House show community board. that's indeed where I post my weekly Huddy review of the latest aired House's episode
anyway, thank you for your wonderful reviews and welcome to the new readers!
have a nice day (or night!) ~ maya