By the end of the next week another two touching sessions with Marius, House was able to relax and enjoy the slow exploration of his body and reciprocate the sensation for Marius. He found this light, slow touch very sensual and erotic, arousing in a way that let him savor the feeling of being aroused, rather than the rocket ship build to liftoff that he had always experienced with sex before. Never had an encounter as intimate as these had been not ended with climax.
"I am not surprised," Marius answered softly with a nod as he poured them each a glass of wine and brought House's over to him. "Many people do not realize the benefit to themselves and to their relationships by practicing sensual touch. It makes the actual act of sex far more enjoyable, since your nerves have already become accustomed to these sensations and so will register them even when your concentration and attention are elsewhere."
"Now this coming week I have to go a business trip," Marius said, leaning forward to make eye contact with House. "I'll be leaving tomorrow around lunch and won't be back until Saturday evening. I want you to pick me up at the airport and stay over until Monday morning. I'll give you a call on Tuesday and on Friday, when I'll have evenings clear but unless you have a crisis, I won't be available otherwise. And don't think I don't know that you are thinking now," he warned, shaking his finger at him. "Only if you are in crisis."
"I want you to be vigilant on wearing your collar and necklace. Do not," Marius added, pausing for emphasis, "do not touch yourself sensually. No masturbation. I don't even want you to look at yourself naked in the mirror. Is that clear?"
House frowned, more in confusion at the stern tone that Marius delivered his orders with. "Clear. Wear my collar inside, necklace outside, no self-touch, no masturbation, no looking at myself in the mirror."
"What about watching porn?" House asked with a mischievous half grin.
"Only if you can do so while still keeping the other rules."
House was surprised at this answer. "I think that's me asking for trouble," he said after a moment's thought. Marius shrugged, not concerned at all about the possibility of him watching porn.
House returned to work the following morning and wound up working clinic duty all morning since diagnostics had no cases. Wilson was busy with a crisis patient so he picked up his lunch in the cafeteria and brought it back to his office. He briefly thought about watching some porn but changed his mind. Even though he never jacked off at work, he didn't really want to be tempted to go home and do so. He was curious about the injunctions Marius had given him and to find out what the benefits would be from spending a week devoid of the kind of touch Marius had been slowly teaching him to both accept and enjoy.
That afternoon, he was down in the ER waiting area, reading their magazines and listening in for a good case while his team was searching more directly. Nothing seemed at all interesting so far, just your usual run of broken bones, stitches and fender benders. At least the magazines were fairly new, he reflected, shifting in his seat and propping his leg up on the low table in front of him. An hour later he heard a loud commotion in the ambulance bay and craned his neck around, wondering if his next case was coming in. There were six trauma victims coming in from a car accident. A quick tally in his mind registered they were short physicians with trauma experience. Normally this would send him to the elevators but … he dropped the magazine down on the table in front of him and went to the MD in charge of the ER.
"Not now, House, we're busy unlike you," Harris snapped when he saw him approaching.
"I know, I've been listening all morning. Forget about my usual. Give me a patient," House demanded.
"No mysteries here, just trauma," Harris countered, looking up at House doubtfully but with a tinge of hope.
"Yep, trauma, got it. My patients crash all the time for bigger mysteries. I think I can handle it. Give me one and page my team to the ER."
Harris pointed House to one of the bays and instructed the staff to page the diagnostics team to ER. If House was in a mood to help and offer up his team as well, Harris sure wasn't going to turn down the help.
Cuddy came into the ER about an hour later, peeking around curtained dividers as the trauma cases were beginning to wrap up enough to be sent to ICU or the OR. She nodded in greeting to Hadley who was just packing her patient off to ICU. Taub was finished up and signing off paperwork; his patient had just gone to the OR. Foreman was intensely reading CT and Xray results so she didn't interrupt him at all. Seeing them was surprising only in that rumor was House himself had told Harris to page them. Another peek around the curtain showed House with his patient, still in very critical condition, monitors were showing just how unstable he was although the alarms had been silenced. She smirked. That was a typical House move.
House was seated on a rolling stool, fingers inside a deep gash on his patient's sides, his eyes half-closed as he concentrated on what he was feeling. A resident was holding the x-ray up to the treatment light clearly for reference although she doubted House would trust that over his own senses. She let the curtain drop before anyone in the room noticed and called her to House's attention. She had no desire to distract him right now.
"Dr. Cuddy," Thirteen greeted as she came over, stripping off her used treatment gown and slipping into a new one handed her by a nurse. "Anything wrong?"
"Nothing. Just checking on how things are going," Cuddy answered, smiling.
"You're checking on whether there's any truth to the rumor that House is treating a trauma patient in ER," Thirteen answered knowingly. "I don't know why, but he is. I'm going in to help him," she added, slipping through the curtain. Cuddy left the ER quietly and went back up to her office, deciding to check on House in his office later.
Around six pm Cuddy headed up to the fourth floor to check on House. She'd gotten held up with a call from one of the insurance carriers the hospital dealt with but now she slowed as she approached House's office door. The lights were out but she could see him inside sleeping on his recliner with a light hospital blanket thrown over him. He was dressed in scrubs clearly not having had a change of clothes available to him. Cuddy stepped inside and looked him over carefully before waking him.
She thought he was looking much healthier since he'd been with his drug sponsor. Although he still had pain lines in his face, his complexion was better and he didn't look so gaunt anymore. Cuddy took a moment to study the necklace he was wearing more closely. He'd been wearing it daily since he'd been with his sponsor. Perhaps it was a gift, she thought. Finally she reached out and lightly shook his shoulder.
"House. House wake up, it's Cuddy," she called. He startled awake, looking confused for a moment until he focused on her face. "Hey. You did good this afternoon. I've had word your trauma patient is in critical but stable condition. You should go home and rest. Take the morning off tomorrow," she said, leaning against the desk as she watched him finish waking up.
House grimaced as he shifted and pain hit him full force. "Are you all right?" Cuddy asked, concerned.
"Yeah. Been a long time since I treated a patient in that kind of environment. Leg's not real happy with me," House answered, rubbing at the stiff and aching muscles. "I rode my bike to work. Don't think I can ride it home. Don't feel like getting into a cab."
"Come on. I'll drive you home. I'm headed out for the night anyway," Cuddy offered.
House took a moment to think about it then nodded. He got to his feet and gathered up his things slowly, trying not to get his leg in spasms. After a moment it calmed down. He followed Cuddy down the elevator and into her Lexus, falling asleep on the way to his house. Cuddy woke him lightly and followed him into his apartment since he still seemed half asleep on his feet.
She stayed just long enough to see him settled onto his sofa and covered with a blanket, putting his cell phone, ibuprofen and water nearby. She took a moment to look around the apartment, noting it was clean, the kitchen sink clear of dishes. Even the fridge had some food in it. With a nod she locked the door on her way out and left him to rest.
House woke late the next morning and put on the coffee to brew while he used the bathroom. He was back on the sofa rubbing out his leg with a cup of coffee on the table in short order. The first thing he did was call the ICU and get a status update on his patient, telling the charge nurse he'd be there in two hours but to refer to his team or Wilson if any needs came up before then. Around 1pm he was finally ready to go to the hospital, deciding to take the bus so he could bring his bike home. After checking in at the desk and getting his messages he put his things in his office and headed up to ICU. He grabbed his patient's chart and quickly scanned the notes before heading in to check on him. He wrote some orders on the chart and made sure that the ICU had his pager and cell phone numbers before heading back to his office.
A little while later he was reviewing test results when a knock at the door signaled Wilson's arrival.
"Hey. How's your patient?" Wilson asked when House nodded him in.
"Stable. Just ordered up some more tests and reading over the tests from yesterday. You?"
"Finished appointments for the day. I thought I'd check in with you, maybe do an hour in the clinic," Wilson answered, plopping down in one of the chairs and picking up House's tennis ball and tossing it from hand to hand.
"Masochist," House teased about doing clinic duty.
"Eh. I'm tired. Maybe I won't bother today. Did you get a diagnostics case at all?"
"No, still dealing with the trauma cases," House responded as he signed off on the orders and closed them out. "Cuddy hasn't been around at all. Maybe I should keep that in mind; volunteer for ER every now and then, no nagging."
"It could be a pattern," Wilson said, tilting his head to the side as he considered it. "You up for poker tomorrow?"
"You know it. I need lunch money for the rest of the week," House said with a grin as Wilson shot him a dirty look.
"I might just win this time you know," Wilson said gruffly.
"Never!" House protested.
House spoke with Marius that night for an hour and the next night played poker with Wilson, Chase and a couple of House's poker friends. House did wind up winning a good share of Wilson's money although Chase got quite a bit too. House spent his evenings reading his medical journals and thinking about the lessons that Marius had taught him so far. He had a couple of serious moments of temptation to touch himself but he went to play the piano to distract himself though he was counting the days until Marius was due to return. He definitely avoided watching any porn so as not to make the temptation worse. He had to chuckle as this was like porn rehab. Six days clean, he thought to himself.
Saturday came at last and he checked the flight times to be sure to get to the airport in plenty of time to pick Marius up. He was waiting in the concourse watching the corridor intently and was treated to a full smile from Marius when they made eye contact.
"I'm glad to see you," Marius said as he got close. "It's been a long week," he said as he ran his hand down House's arm from shoulder to hand, pleased to see that House didn't flinch away from him.
They picked up Marius' luggage and got into House's car, headed for Marius' house. "Did you follow the rules I gave you? No cheating?" Marius asked, looking askance at House in the driver's seat.
"No cheating. Lots of temptation but no cheating. I kept telling myself that the benefit would be worth the wait. If I'm wrong I might spiral into a porn and jacking off jag when I relapse," House said dramatically.
Marius chuckled. "I think you'll find it worthwhile. I'm very pleased that you followed the rules."
When they arrived at Marius' house, Timmy came out and got the luggage out of the car and disappeared with it. Marius led the way to the master bedroom where there was a fire going and a light meal waiting for them. Marius watched with pleasure as House pulled out his leather collar from his backpack and switched his necklace out for it. Once they had eaten and had a glass of wine, Marius gestured for House to stand up.
"Let's begin then and see how well you remember what you've learned," Marius said, beginning to slowly remove his clothing, watching House carefully as he did so and lightly smiling as House was clearly very interested and beginning to get aroused.
Once Marius was nude he allowed House to touch him slowly and thoroughly, reassuring himself that his master was well and truly back with him. Eventually he sensed that House's fear of Marius leaving him was assuaged and he stepped back slowly. "Now it's your turn."
House nodded and slowly stripped his clothes for Marius who watched with open appreciation and arousal.
"Your reward for obeying me will be very special but you may be frightened by it at first. Do you trust me?" Marius asked, watching to see if this was perhaps too fast and too soon after his return from his trip. House looked nervous but nodded.
"What is your safe word?" Marius asked. House supplied it readily. "If it is too much for you, safe word out and I will go back to the touch we've already established. No repercussions or recriminations. All right?"
House took a deep breath and nodded. "All right."
Marius nodded and went over to a drawer in the nightstand and came back with a blindfold and something that House couldn't readily identify. Marius secured the blindfold on him before pulling out the other item. It was a wrist cuff on a strap and he trailed his fingers down House's arm before putting it around his wrist.
"Now that you've learned how intoxicating mere touch can be, I want to show you how to increase your sensation of touch," Marius calmly explained, watching House's breathing go shallow and his muscles all tense up. "I'm going to restrain just this one hand to the bedpost, nothing else," he assured him as he did so. "Now I'm going to touch you as we've been doing."
Marius moved slowly and thoroughly, running light fingertips all over House and watched as House slowly calmed and accepted that Marius would keep his word. House was shifting on his feet slightly as the restraint and the blindfold heightened the intensity of sensation and he became quite aroused at Marius' touch.
House let out his breath as Marius let his fingers trail back to his shoulders. "Wow. I knew that blocking a sense heightened others but I never realized that preventing movement could heighten sensation like that."
"Indeed," Marius agreed with a smile. "It can add a great deal of enjoyment. "Would you like to go a little farther?"
House tensed slightly. "Not if it means more restraints. This is enough right now."
"No, no more restraints," Marius answered, moving behind House and pressing up against his back. Marius' cock was pressed between them and he ran his hand down House's arm, twining their fingers together. "Now, concentrate on the sensations," he said quietly.
Marius reached around House with his free hand and fondled House's balls before taking his length in his hand and beginning to slowly stroke him. House sucked in his breath and let it out very slowly as his body reacted with enthusiasm to his master's touch. Marius kept their other hands twined as he worked House into a state of high arousal.
"Breathe," Marius coached as he continued to stroke House. "Holding your breath diminishes sensation. That's not really what we're looking for is it?"
House shook his head no and swallowed hard, hoping desperately that Marius would let him climax after a weeklong session of avoiding sexual contact at all. It didn't even occur to him that this was what he'd been so concerned about as his whole body felt tightly wound and gasping for release.
Marius chuckled lightly at House's reaction and he sped up and varied his technique just a bit taking House quickly up and over the edge into an intense orgasm, leaving him gasping in Marius' arms as the last vestiges of it shuddered away.
"Mmm. Very nice," Marius crooned softly in his ear. We'll go to the hot tub and relax then go to bed," he continued as he removed the blindfold and then released the wrist restraint. They relaxed into the hot tub for a while and were both asleep very quickly with Marius holding House in his arms.