hi everyone! here's the new chapter, and it comes with a warning!

every chapter has been important in this story so far, but this one, you really don't want to miss it...

** CHAPTER 39 **

When House entered his bedroom, Cuddy was down on her knees, waiting for him and impatiently fidgeting on his bed already. He paused a few seconds at the door to look at her and savor the vision. She wriggled on the mattress and commanded him to hurry. A broad grin illuminated his face when he assessed how impatient she was. He approached the edge of the bed, and she gripped his shirt, avidly yanking him toward her. He didn't resist and topple forward, cautiously falling on top of her.

"Wow," he chuckled blissfully, "you're really that horny!"

"I'm really that horny."

She made him roll on his back and sat back on her knees at his side.

He seized her by the waist and pulled her to him, but she resisted and stayed seated.

"Oh no, House!" she said, a mischievous sparkle lightening her eyes. "It's my turn, now. And I earned the right to undress you, my way."

"Did you?" he provoked. "I'm not so sure about that."

"Who cares if I did? Just look me in the eyes and say you don't want me to undress you right now."

She studied him, looking down at him challengingly and, after merely a few seconds, he spread out his arms in a surrendering gesture.

"All right, you won! Why would I suggest otherwise, anyway? It'd be so stupid of me," he answered cockily.

"And everyone knows you're not stupid, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"But you're an ass," she added with a knowing smile, leaning down toward his face.

"The biggest ass you've ever met."

"A sexy one though," she purred into his ear.

The smoky sound of her horny voice made House shiver beneath her. She straightened up a little and conspicuously held out the napkin above him. Before she even had to ask, he lifted his head and let her tie the cloth around his skull docilely. As she did, bent over him, he groped for her hips and started to enfold her in his arms, maintaining her half-lain onto his chest. She didn't try to pull back but leaned closer instead, brushing his neck with her lips.

"Move your hands away," she ordered. "You didn't earn the right to touch me yet."

He sighed in frustration but complied, nonetheless, albeit halfheartedly.

"My game. My rules," she said jubilantly, rubbing her nose against his chin.

"And what are your rules?" he asked throatily.

"You're mine and I can do whatever I want with you."

"Yeah… except it's not really a rule. It's just a fact."

Cuddy instantly beamed and took a deep breath, savoring the exaltation of hearing him acknowledge the fact that he was at her complete mercy. House was blindfolded and he'd just surrendered willingly to her. Yet, despite the power she undeniably had over him, what she felt for him in that very moment had nothing to do with the game. The feeling that hit her just then was so tender, so strong and so vivid that it almost hurt her.

"Shut up!" she said, trying to hide behind a bossy tone the rush of emotions that had just pervaded her.

She saw a playful smile flicker across his lips, and it gave her confirmation that he was enjoying this just as much as she was. And it aroused her even more. She wanted him to be naked now. She wanted to follow her sensual rules and slowly peel him off his clothes.

She started by the belt. She unbuckled it and gently pulled on it to make it slide through his jeans' loops. She untied his laces and took his sneakers off next, and then his socks, baring his feet. She waited without moving and studied his reactions: He was stretching his neck, trying to guess what she was doing and where she was going to put her hands next.

Cuddy realized then that if she was quiet and light enough on the mattress, he wouldn't be able to anticipate her next moves which sounded like something that would turn out to be quite exciting for them both. And she didn't even have to say or do anything because she instantly saw he'd had the same idea. She saw it in the way he re-positioned himself on the bed, lying with his hands along his thighs, offering her his body to play with. He was so ready for her game that she moistened her bottom lip in a greedy reflex, as if she were about to taste her favorite dish.

She leaned down and began to undo his shirt, starting from the bottom button. As she went along, slowly drawing it open and exposing his belly, the touch of her hand rippled the muscles of his abdomen, like a pleasure wave, following the trail of her fingers, leaving goose bumps on his skin and causing his nipples to erect under her caress. She wanted to devour him with kisses and rub each and every inch of his skin with her palms, voluptuously, but she contained her need. She wanted to tease him and make his desire come to its climax first.

Cuddy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Carefully, she laid her left hand on his chest and with the nail of her index finger, she slowly traced a long, winding line on his torso, drawing small circles around his nipples and then going down, tickling his ribs, and lower to his waist before reemerging to dip in the hollow of his navel.

House clenched his fists along his thighs and his muscles contracted again under her touch. The moment she heard him exhale a groan of pleasure, she immediately removed her hand, and smiled victoriously. He was short of breath, and she couldn't repress the urge of stealing him a kiss. She leaned carefully and stopped just an inch away from his face.

He sensed she was near and stretched his neck to touch her lips. Slightly opening her mouth, she let him taste her but didn't give him her tongue. As soon as he began to explore her deeper, she drew apart and sat up straight again. It wasn't easy for her to contain her desire either and she really had to control herself not to surrender to the urge to jump him right there and then.

She still needed to feel him to be able to quench a little of her craving and she needed to feel him now. Against her skin. She reached out for his jeans' button and zipper and deftly undid them. House instantly lifted his hips, assuming she was going to take his pants off, but she didn't.

She unbuttoned her shirt instead and took it off silently, heedful not to make any sound so that he wouldn't guess what she was doing. When he realized nothing was happening, he reluctantly repositioned himself on the bed and she could feel his frustration by the way he wiggled impatiently on the mattress.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" he asked, tilting his head to the side whereat he thought she was seated.

"Shh!" she cooed, leaning down to his ear to make him feel her presence close to him.

He quivered at the sound of her voice and shrank his shoulders a bit. She took advantage of this fleeting moment and in one quick and determined motion she grabbed his jeans, pulled them down his legs and took them off.

"Oh God!" he exclaimed. "I like your game."

She rapidly stepped out of the bed to take her pants off as well and when she got back on the mattress, she relished the fact that she was now scantily clad, without him being aware of it. And yet, he was lying there, almost naked as well, and she could see the conspicuous bulge inside his boxers as proof of her desire for her.

God, she so wanted him now! She went down on all fours and slowly crawled toward him like a panther approaching her prey. Sensually climbing her way up to him, she started from his legs and placed her hands on both sides of his body. When her face was aligned with his hips, she bent over to touch his skin. She stroked his belly with her chin and rubbed her breasts against his manhood. The warm and unexpected contact made him jump with surprise and he bucked his hips, his body language undeniably asking for more.

She straightened up and straddled him, sitting on his lap, careful not to put too much weight on his scar. He placed his hands flat on her thighs and despite the alleged rules of her game, she didn't have the strength to move them away. She let him fondle her and she tilted her head back, taking a deep, lustful breath and arching the small of her back to welcome the delightful sensation of his caresses on her curves. She put her hands on his groin and slid underneath the fabric of his boxers. She felt his balls under her fingers and grabbed his shaft in her hand, caressing it up and down its length and brushing the tip with her thumb.

"Oh, fuck!" he growled. "I love your game!"

She bent over and nuzzled his neck, gently rubbing her nose in his nape.

"Do you, now?" she whispered suggestively in his ear.

"No, I hate it," he said, deadpan.

"I can make you love it even more, you know."

"Please do!" he instantly approved with a blissful groan.

Cuddy moved away from his lap, seized the elastic waistband of his boxers and then slowly slid them along his legs, freeing his erection. The sound of his ragged breathing and the rapid up and down movements of his abdomen were betraying his arousal and she placed her hand flat on his midriff and gently caressed him, moving her palm down to the edge of his pelvis.

He shivered and she leaned down to his groin to pleasure him, first slightly brushing her lips on the crest, and then she licked the seam with the tip of her tongue causing his shaft to jerk under her kiss and an appreciative moan escaped his lips. Eager to please him as much as she wanted to please herself, she curled her lips then and took him inside her mouth, stroking his shaft against the roof of her mouth and pressing her swollen lips against its length.

"Fuck, Cuddy," he hissed.

He was really hers. He was unconditionally hers now. She was somehow still refusing to surrender to that very idea and yet, it was impossible for her to ignore the little voice that was shouting that evidence through every pore of her skin. She kept on sucking him leisurely for a while and her heart melted with joy when she witnessed him giving in without restraint but, as she felt him swell inside her mouth, she stopped before he reached his orgasm.

He groaned in protest, but she sensually crawled back up to him, kissing him everywhere she could along the way, on his hipbones, his navel, his stomach, his pectorals and nipples, and in the hollow of his collarbone, never getting enough of his skin, his scent, his taste or the salty taste of his sweat. When she reached his face, she rubbed her cheek against his stubble and pecked him on his cheekbone and on his nose, nibbling his lips, until she felt his arms finally wrap around her, as if he couldn't hold it back any longer and finally felt the urging need of squeezing her tight against him. She moaned and buried her face in his neck.

"Do you want me now?" she asked with a hoarse voice.

"Yes," he blew, still panting from his high.

"You can have me, now."

As an answer, House instantly reached for the napkin to take it off his eyes. But she caught his hands just in time and held his gesture back.

"No," she said.

She pulled his hands away from his face which seemed to puzzle him.

"Explore me," she explained. "As if you were blind… Explore me with your hands."

She helped him sit up straight on the bed and sat, facing him and waiting for his touch, her body trembling in anticipation. He carefully groped around for her body and met her shoulders first. At a snail's pace, he started sliding his hands along her arms all the way down her wrists and back up, cradling her elbows in his palms and returning to her shoulders again. Then he enveloped her nape and gently massaged her skull with his palms, and then he combed her hair with his long, thin fingers, sending voluptuous shivers down her spine.

"Hmm yes, just like that," she whispered yearningly, welcoming each one of his caresses with a jerk of delight.

His hands went to her face next, slowly touching her with the tip of his fingers. He brushed her lips with his thumb and made them part, pressing gently on her chin. He pushed his thumb on the verge of her mouth and she sensually nibbled it. He didn't linger but took his hand away and slowly moved it down her chest.

His fingers met with the straps of her bra, and he hooked them before sliding them off her shoulders one after the other. Carefully leaning forward, he enfolded her in his arms to unhook her bra and free her breasts. Before drawing back, he kept her in his arms a long while, relishing the feel of her naked skin against his chest and kissed her nape, exhaling warms blows of air on her skin.

"You drive me crazy," he sighed lasciviously in her ear.

She tilted her head back offering her windpipe to his lips.

"Who, me or my body?" she asked, between his kisses.

"But you are your body," he replied, cupping her left breast in his hand and slowly massaging it.

She arched her back and pushed her chest toward his hand even more. Then he covered both her breasts with his hands and sensually caressed them, pressing the tips on his thumb on her nipples and drawing small circles with his fingers around the sensitive peak. He rubbed, caressed, and stroked and the more he did, the more it aroused her.

But suddenly, he abruptly stopped his gentle, sensual rubbing and froze before swiftly moving one of his hands away as he kept the other on her right breast, absolutely still. Cuddy thought he was teasing her, that it was part of their game and that he was really good at it because she was completely craving him now and wanted nothing but give herself to him completely.

"Don't stop!" she pleaded.

House's hand started to move again but, this time, it didn't feel like a caress anymore. Cuddy gulped and glanced at him, and despite him still being blindfolded, she clearly saw his features tense. He gave her no warning, and, in one swift gesture, he ripped the napkin off his head and stared at her with utter gravity.

"Hey, you're cheating, you're…" she faltered feebly.

Unable to sustain the intensity of his eyes on her, she bowed her head and without a word, House seized her right arm and compellingly placed it above her shoulder, maintaining it firmly bent behind her neck. He held out his hand and cupped her breast again.

It no longer was the lover touching her, and it definitely didn't feel like a caress either. It was clearly the doctor, exploring the area around her areola and carefully palpating her nipple.

Cuddy closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip when she felt his finger pressing it under her skin. His hand stopped moving and she sensed the weight of his stare on her, forcing her to lift up her face to look at him again. She complied reluctantly and their eyes finally met.

House's lips were trembling, and it felt as if he was desperately searching for the right words while trying to summon up the strength to talk. Cuddy smiled sheepishly and covered the hand he still had on her breast with hers and, without taking her eyes off of him, she slowly pushed it away.

"You have a lump in your right breast," House said tonelessly, when he realized she had removed his hand from her chest.

A/N

see? I told you... now I'm impatient to hear your thoughts. and now that you know, I can tell you that this chapter was the original idea that inspired me to pen the entire story. also, this is going to be a huge plotline.

so, get ready for the rollercoaster ride ahead...

to huddles777: don't worry, I support the spoiler-free philosophy, so if you choose to read this story just here you won't get any information from me, which is the best way to read it, I think