Here's the new chapter, in which - I hope - you'll enjoy House's way of spicing up a simple ride to the hospital...

** CHAPTER 59 **

Cuddy was in her room, packing her stuff when her cell phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and smiled.

"Hey, how's it going downtown?" she asked, already impatiently waiting for him to be back.

"Do you have a real jacket?"

"What? What do you mean a real jacket?"

"I mean something that's not made out of dangerously thin, fluffy fabric."

"Why?"

"Ttt! Answer first: do you?""

"Well, maybe I have this old duffle-coat that I used to-"

"Ok. Put in on and meet me outside."

"You're already here?" she exclaimed, in a joyful tone.

"I said I'll pick you up before lunch and it's eleven thirty."

"Wow, so you can actually be on time!" she teased, chuckling.

"Yeah. And you're going to have to find yourself someone else to have lunch with if you don't get your ass down here in five!" he grunted and hung up.

She looked at her cell and sighed voluptuously. She found the duffle-coat in her closet and put it on, excitement making her heart beat faster. She grabbed her purse and practically ran down the stairs. When she walked past the living room, she caught a glimpse of her mother and, without stopping, waved at her on her way out.

"House is here. I'm going. See you later for dinner!"

Before Dana could answer anything, Cuddy had already disappeared, and the sound of the door being slammed shut resonated in the hallway. Dana closed her eyes and smiled. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she'd last seen her daughter so radiant.

# # # # # #

When Cuddy stepped out of her parents' house, she was surprised not to see House right away as she expected to. She looked around, a little anxious and then she saw him. She froze, put her left hand on her waist and swayed her hips, shifting her body's weight to one side sexily.

"What's that?" she asked, frowning.

"That is a motorcycle."

It was parked on the sidewalk, rested on its stand, its gleaming chromes glittering under the noon light. House was standing beside it, proud and beaming, looking as happy and excited as a child would have been with his new toy.

"I can see that," Cuddy said, cautiously coming closer. "I know what a motorcycle looks like."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure you know… but what you don't know is that this baby is not just a motorcycle. It's a Triumph Scrambler," he declared solemnly.

"And?" she said, raising an eyebrow, shooting him one of her famous 'not impressed' looks. "Does it have magical power or something?"

"Duh! It's a gem! Tom Cruise drove one like this in Mission Impossible!" House exclaimed with boyish wonderment.

Cuddy couldn't suppress her laughter, but she regained her composure and shook her head 'no' determinedly.

"Well, I don't know where you got that gem-" she started.

"I rented it-"

"Or what you thought you would do with that but-"

"Get on!" House said compellingly, beaming at her.

"No way!" she protested.

"Get on woman!" he repeated with a groan.

"House, you're not serious, are you?"

"Of course, I am! I want you to get on that bike, wind your arms around my waist tightly so we can ride like the wind until we find a nice restaurant to have lunch."

Cuddy took a step forward and squinted at him, looking genuinely intrigued.

"Are you high?" she asked, a part of her actually seriously wondering if he was really expecting her to ride that bike with him. "How many Vicodin did you have?" she added, worry registering in her voice.

She was close to him enough then, and he shamelessly took advantage of it, grabbing her hand by surprise and yanking her toward him. She fell into his arms, and he enfolded her in his embrace possessively. She wriggled to free herself at first, but her resistance only lasted a few seconds before she relaxed in his embrace, burying her face in his chest.

"I had one Vicodin, and it was three hours ago, after breakfast," he blew huskily above her head. "I'm not high. I just want to take you out for lunch, on that bike."

She looked up and scrutinized him for a moment, squinting her light grey eyes to study his face. He pouted, in the most irresistible way, and tightened his embrace, pressing on the small of her back to bring her closer against his hips.

"Come on," he whined, with just the right necessary amount of beseeching inflection in his voice. "it's fun and you're gonna love it!"

"But what's the difference? If we just need to go from point A to point B, then we might as well take the car."

"Why do you have to be such a buzz-kill?"

"I'm not a buzz-kill!" she protested, instantly stiffening a bit inside his arms.

He leaned down and buried his face inside her neck, pushing the hem of her scarf away from her skin with his nose. He started to nibble her flesh gently until he felt her relax in his embrace again.

"Cuddy," he whispered, brushing her skin with his lips while she stretched her neck to give in to his kisses. "If it makes no difference, then say yes… for me." He straightened up to meet her gaze and stared compellingly at her, a killing smile drawn on his lips. "Pretty, pretty please."

"You're such a child!" she sighed, unmistakably showing the first signs of weakness.

His smile widened for he knew she wouldn't resist him much longer.

"And what do I do with my purse?" she still asked, with a challenging tone.

"And you're such a girlie girl!" he said, chuckling. "Don't worry, that's what these are for." He pointed at the saddlebags. "See? I have everything planned. Come on, you know you can't possibly say no, so put that on and let's move."

He grabbed a helmet on the bike's saddle and handed it to her. She raised her chin defiantly and squinted at him a few extra seconds, trying to play with his nerves. But he knew she had already given up, so he didn't flinch. He stood, his arm extended to her with the helmet in his hand until she finally took it. She put it on, and he put his on as well.

He promptly got on the bike next, steadying it with his good leg, and adjusted himself on the saddle. He hooked his cane on the side, above the exhaust pipe and she approached to sit behind him but when she walked past him, he grabbed her by her coat's lapels and tugged her toward him. Through her visor, he caught her interrogative gaze but, without any further explanation, he made her lift her chin up and checked her helmet's tie. He tightened the strap and let go of her chin and she slowly lowered her face down again.

She looked undeniably flustered by what she'd read as his protective way of ensuring she was safe. She peered at him with a mesmerized gaze, and he rolled his eyes, shooting her a look that said don't make a fuss about it. Her face softened even more and, feeling irremediably drawn to his face, she started leaning down to kiss him, completely oblivious of the helmet's issue that would have gotten in the way. House let out a laugh and pushed her back before the inevitable collision. He shook his head and zipped his jacket's collar shut.

"God, you so need to practice your self-control!" he teased. "Come on, I promise I'll let you grope me all you want later but right now I'm starving, so get on and let's go!"

She rolled her eyes and walk round him to sit on the bike behind him. He made sure to lean it lower enough for her to straddle it effortlessly and when she sat down on the saddle, her light weight barely made the bike move. She instantly wrapped her arms around his waist, and he couldn't repress the thrill it made him feel to have his woman holding on to him so tightly. Filled with a sudden burst of pride, he stuck out his chest and turned the engine on.

"Ready?" he shouted to cover the engine's humming sound.

As an answer, she clasped him tighter, leaning against his back and resting her head between his shoulder blades. He popped the bike into first gear and squeezed the brake, giving a few accelerations that made the engine rev. Carefully, he pushed with his feet to make the bike climb down the sidewalk, and when it hit the road, he twirled the throttle, released the clutch and the bike shot off with a perfect throbbing sound.

Inside Cuddy's residence, Benjamin walked into the living room and joined his wife who was quietly seated in the couch, reading.

"You might be interested to know that our daughter just left, riding a bike."

Dana Cuddy tilted her face up and raised an eyebrow, half-amused, half-intrigued by her husband's fake serious tone.

"Really?"

"Yes. Though, obviously, she was not the one driving it."

"Of course, she wasn't," Dana echoed, with a tender look on her face.

# # # # # #

House parked the bike across the street, right in front of the restaurant and let Cuddy ease herself down. He turned the engine off and got off the bike as well. He watched her as she took her helmet off and peered at her with a fond smile when he saw her instinctively shook her head to release her from the feeling of compression it'd caused.

"What?" she said suspiciously, noticing his stare.

Her cheeks were pink and her eyes glistening. Her hair was all scruffy and she simply looked gorgeous. House came closer and gently redid her hair, combing it with his fingers.

"Nothing," he lied, not wanting to confess how much her beauty made his heart beat faster.

"So?" he added, waggling his eyebrows playfully.

"So what?"

"How much did you like the ride?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist, and bringing her close to him.

"It was loud… and unsteady… and cold and-" She stopped and smiled.

"It was a real kick and you loved it!" he exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

She looked at him but remained stubbornly silent.

"Admit it!" he insisted, squeezing her tighter against him.

She raised her hands up to his face and covered his cheeks with both her palms. She rubbed his stubble gently and drew him to her face. He leaned down and let her nibble at his lips teasingly.

"Fine, ok, I admit. I may have enjoyed the ride," she blew into his mouth. "But you haven't turned me into a biker for all that!"

"Too bad, coz you would've been so sexy all dressed in leather," he mused aloud.

She didn't answer and just stared at him silently, a soft smile drawn on her lips. He looked at her, beguiled by the tenderness he read underneath her gaze, and delicately placed one of her ringlets back behind her ear.

"Hungry?" he asked.

"A little," she admitted.

She scanned her surroundings for the first time since he'd stopped the bike and suddenly seemed to recognize where he had taken her. Her eyes grew bigger at the sign of the restaurant across the street.

"Wow, The Meritage?" she said, sounding a bit impressed. "Too bad we will never get a table at this hour." She sighed and smiled at him. "But I must say, that was a nice try!"

House grinned and let go of her to take her purse out of the saddlebag, handing it to her.

"Nice try? Nuh-uh. You should know by now that I'm not just trying, I'm succeeding!" He put his hand on the small of her back and gave it a gentle push to set her into motion. "Come on, let's go!"

But she stiffened and didn't move.

"I'm telling you, we won't get a-"

"I made a reservation, you moron! Can you give me a little credit here?" he exclaimed, faking to be hurt.

She scrutinized him and bit her lip.

"Aw, you did?" she said, clearly won over by the efforts she thought he'd put into this.

"Duh!" he puffed. "Apparently, you still have a lot to learn about me."

"Is that so? Like what?"

He leaned closer to her, his face almost touching hers, and he locked eyes with hers.

"Like, I'm not the bastard you think I am."

"I don't think you're a bastard," she said.

"Good."

"I mean, not all the time," she sassed.

She straightened up, visibly proud of her little comeback, and smiled tantalizingly at him.

"Maybe, but that's how you like me," he teased back. "Coz you'd get bored if I weren't a complete asshole sometimes!"

She narrowed her eyes at him, intensifying her stare on him.

"Yeah, yeah, don't push your luck," she taunted, before turning on her heel and walking toward the restaurant.

House stayed rooted to his spot for a fleeting while and watched her sashay her way to the front door, looking totally mesmerized. After a few seconds, shaking himself back to reality, he started limping determinedly to catch her up, with a broad grin on his face.

A/N

It's my birthday today, well actually for me now, it's not anymore because it's past midnight but it was: November 29th… I don't know why I'm telling you this, except maybe, let's be honest because maybe, then, I'll receive lots of B-day wishes… ;P but, actually, I just want to say I feel great: I had a good day, playing music all afternoon, then drinking champagne to celebrate! so maybe I'm a little tipsy, but it feels "happy" and I couldn't keep it just for myself... :-)

So, a very good morning, day, afternoon, night to you all, wherever you are on this planet at this moment! I hope you're still enjoying the story!

Have fun! ~ maya

PS (to Huddles777): waiting for your DM, send it whenever you want... :)