Author's Note:
It's been a little while, huh?
I'm sorry this has taken me some time. As I believe I mentioned before, when I started working on this fic I originally planned on it being a one shot, but then as I was writing I figured I would probably want to explore this idea more later. It just took a while for me to figure out what comes next.
Thank you all for your patience, I hope you'll find this new chapter worth the wait. In any case, I'm still having a lot of fun with this.
And to be clear, because I'm not sure that I was before, this is meant to take place during early season 9, the only difference being that instead of Amy deciding to take a step back from her relationship with Sheldon, they end up talking things through and working on their issues. Everything else is basically the same.
As usual, a special thank you to my beta reader Stark for looking this over.
Enjoy!
Chapter Two
Sheldon grumbled inwardly as he stripped off his robe and pulled back the shower curtain, his erection prominent between his legs. He paused for a moment, debating whether to use hot or cold water, before turning the knob to hot and stepping into the tub.
When Amy had gifted him the remote to her vibrator she had promised him complete control, however the opposite seemed to be true. He had never felt more out of control in his life.
No matter what he did, he couldn't shake the image of her partially undressed and stretched out on her bed, or the feel of her soft body underneath his, or the sound of her moaning his name. That afternoon replayed over and over in his mind in vivid detail, disrupting his work, destroying his focus. He was thankful that the rest of their friends were too wrapped up in their own lives at the moment, or else surely they would have noticed how distracted he'd become over the last few days. Not to mention his sudden uptick in self-abuse sessions.
But no longer. Sheldon was taking back control.
He spent the past hour putting the finishing touches on an amendment to the Relationship Agreement outlining exactly how he and Amy would proceed with this intimacy exploration. They hadn't called it an experiment before, not explicitly, but that was how he intended to treat it. Experiments were familiar, they had parameters and steps to follow. It was the best way he knew to rein in himself and her and whatever these feelings were. He drew up a schedule, chart, and rating system for them to use moving forward, and he had even gone back and logged some results from their previous session. All Amy had to do was initial the amendment to make it final, and he had invited her over before dinner to do just that. Unfortunately, all that work did nothing to dampen his arousal, actually it seemed to have the opposite effect. Hence the quick shower before she arrived.
Sheldon let the water wash over him for a few seconds before he gripped himself and began his stroke, once again calling up the memory of Amy writhing in pleasure beneath him. They hadn't seen each other over the past few days except in passing and had only exchanged a few texts in that time. His heart pounded wildly at the thought of having her alone again. A vision of Amy sprawled out waiting for him, this time on his own bed, popped into his head, and a deep groan escaped from his throat.
He stroked himself faster, his eyes closed, now imagining it was Amy's hand on him. She had almost done that last time, she had reached for him but he had stopped her. What if he hadn't stopped her? What if he gave in? How would it feel?
It only took three more tugs before he was there, coming on his hand, the shower spray washing away the sticky mess almost as soon as it happened. Sheldon hardly noticed, his thoughts still centered on Amy. In his invitation, he told her to bring the vibrator with her, although he had a feeling she would have brought it anyway. If after reading the amendment she had no objections, he had planned enough time that they could start the second round of the experiment immediately. Hopefully by bringing himself to completion now, he would be able to keep his wits about him.
Sheldon continued with his regular shower routine on autopilot, thoughts of his girlfriend still dominating his mind.
Amy found herself in a similar predicament. Though she didn't have Sheldon's eidetic memory, the events of that afternoon stayed with her.
In theory, it shouldn't have been so different. She was no stranger to what she referred to as stress-relieving activities. She'd participated in that one study over a hundred times, the one where electrodes manipulated her brain's pleasure center. And of course she had Gerard.
But in practice, it was very different when it was with Sheldon. Her previous exploits paled in comparison.
A large part of her still couldn't believe it had happened, that not only had she gathered the courage to purchase a real sex toy, but she'd convinced Sheldon to use it on her. Thus far, it was the most intense sexual experience she'd had, and she couldn't wait to repeat it. She sort of regretted asking Sheldon to hang onto the remote, if only because it prevented her from using the toy on herself in the meantime, though it was also still thrilling just knowing he had it.
It didn't bother her that Sheldon had kept his distance in the following days. She knew he would need time to process what had happened, and it was easier to be patient with him knowing he was open to exploring their intimacy now. Besides, he didn't cut off contact completely. And now she had received the message she was waiting for, he had invited her over to discuss the next step forward.
Amy forced herself to keep a steady pace as she walked up the stairs to her boyfriend's apartment. Once she reached the door to 4A, she allowed herself a moment to take a deep breath before knocking, and she was glad she did because her breath caught in her throat when he opened the door. It was ridiculous. It had only been a few days and he looked the same as he always did. She shouldn't have such a pronounced physiological response just from having him within arms reach now.
But she did. And from the way he was just staring at her, maybe he did too.
"Hello," he finally greeted her.
"Hi."
A beat passed before he stepped off to the side and gestured for her to enter. She walked in and he quickly shut the door behind her, then led her over to the kitchen island where the updated Relationship Agreement was laid out.
"Since we have a lot of ground to cover before Leonard and Penny come back with dinner, I'll cut right to the chase," Sheldon said. "I took the liberty of drafting this amendment to help us navigate this new facet of our relationship. If you'll just initial here—"
"Hang on, Sheldon," Amy interrupted him. Her eyes quickly scanned over the document and she felt some of her earlier excitement wane.
"What is it?"
"While I appreciate all the work you clearly put into this, I'm not sure I can do this."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't want to be bound to a strict schedule like this," Amy explained, pointing to that particular section of the amendment. "And I don't want to use this chart."
"What's wrong with the chart?" Sheldon's eye twitched.
"My feelings for you can't be quantified like that," she said simply. Her eyes turned up from the page to meet his. "Can yours?"
Sheldon opened his mouth to respond, but faltered. His feelings for her were huge and overwhelming and every time he tried to put them into words, the words seemed too trite. But that was exactly why he tried. How else could he manage them?
"You promised me control," he said instead.
Amy observed him for a quiet moment and started to understand his dilemma.
"You still have control," she spoke softly. "We don't have to continue if you don't want to."
"But I do want to, that's the problem."
Amy kept watching him for a moment before responding again. "If you need me to initial this to feel in control, I will do it, but I want some changes first."
Sheldon sighed. He hadn't planned for a lengthy debate on this, but he knew there would be no getting around it now. "Very well, what do you suggest?"
It was a similar scene to what happened in Amy's bedroom a few days ago, only this time it was Sheldon's bedroom.
Although she had negotiated away his schedule, she had still agreed to take the next step immediately, as he planned. They were to repeat their former performance, but this time on his territory, and she had managed to talk him into trying more touching as well. Time was a bit of a concern, especially since she also replaced his methods of logging results with an informal verbal debriefing after each session, but they both agreed it was better to do it now than sit through dinner with their friends with this in the back of their minds.
Sheldon gripped the remote control in his hand, his heart hammering in his chest while Amy slipped out of her shoes and cardigan. She lay back on his still-made bed and he became acutely aware that what came next would never leave his memory, it would come back again and again, every lurid detail, every time he looked at his bed from now on. The apprehension must have been evident on his face, because she sat back up and reached out for him.
"Come here."
He slowly approached, and when he came close enough her hand closed gently around his wrist. To his surprise, she removed the remote from his hand and placed it on the bedspread next to her.
"Let's forget about that right now," she said. "We'll start slower this time."
Still gripping his wrist, she brought his hand up to the side of her face and left it there. For a second neither of them moved, until he gently stroked her cheek and he felt her lean into his touch slightly. He saw her eyes flick down to his mouth and he took the hint, leaning down to kiss her. As their lips met, he relaxed a little. When she whimpered softly, he deepened the kiss, letting their tongues slide together.
He let himself get lost in the moment. Her plush lips, her slick tongue, the wet velvet of her inner cheeks. Her warm skin against his palm. She reached for his other hand and slowly brought it to her chest. Sheldon tensed up for a second as she made him cup her breast over her shirt, her hand on top of his so he wouldn't automatically retreat. When he relaxed again, she let go.
They spent several minutes like that, just kissing and touching. Sheldon moved the hand caressing her face down to her other breast on his own, squeezing and enjoying how she felt, enjoying how she moaned and pushed against him. He stopped feeling nervous, until Amy took his hand again and this time placed the remote back in it.
"Don't overthink it," she whispered against his mouth. He decided that was a good idea—Amy was always so smart—and pressed the power button before he could analyze the possible consequences. The soft buzzing of the vibrator was drowned out by her now-louder moans.
Amy threw her head back as the vibrations started. It was on the lowest setting again, but it felt amazing like this, the stimulation between her legs combined with Sheldon's gentle touch on her breasts. Carefully, she laid back down, and she was delighted when Sheldon followed her, moving over her. He began pressing kisses to her exposed throat.
"Mmm, yes," she hissed out.
They stayed locked together like that, Amy writhing on her back on his bed, Sheldon above her with his face in her neck, his fingers working her nipples to hardened points over her clothes. He was ignoring the remote again and the soft, steady buzzing continued on endlessly within her. Just like the time before, it was torture and ecstasy. She hovered perpetually on the brink, her orgasm just out of reach.
Sheldon could feel her squirming and heaving under him more and more as the seconds ticked by and he smirked against her skin. It still felt incredible, being able to do this to her. Blood rushed through his veins and he was grateful for his earlier shower session, it helped him feel at least marginally more in control of himself, though there was still a powerful, consuming need building within him. He would have to proceed with caution.
"Sheldon, more, please," Amy whined, her eyes closed. Her hips were bucking up, seeking more friction, but he had moved his body away from hers slightly.
"No," he spoke against her skin, his lips still moving over the tendons in her neck.
"P-please," she begged.
Sheldon debated internally with himself. He wanted to give her more, wanted to feel her lose herself against him again. But he also wanted to hold back, wanted to keep his head. He still wasn't ready to let go with her yet.
Suddenly, over Amy's whimpering and squirming and the soft hum of the vibrator, there was the sound of the apartment door opening, and Leonard and Penny's voices. And then Amy was coming, hard, and somehow Sheldon managed to act quickly enough to cover her mouth with his own, muffling her cries with another deep kiss while he blindly grabbed for the remote, turning it off and stuffing it into his pocket.
"Sheldon? Are you here?" Leonard called from somewhere outside.
He didn't break away from Amy until she was limp beneath him, and then when he did all they could do was stare at each other, wide-eyed.
"Sheldon?" Leonard called again.
"Just a minute!" he finally answered, by some miracle not sounding too out of breath.
"You go sort yourself out," Amy whispered to him. "I'll cover for you."
"What about you?" he asked.
"Don't worry about me, I'll clean up sometime after, it will be less suspicious that way."
"Thank you," he said, helping her up from the bed and handing her back her cardigan. He tried not to think about the throbbing between his legs. "Are you okay?"
"I'm great!" She smiled brightly at him as they walked the short distance to his bedroom door. "We'll discuss this later."
"Okay," he agreed. Her climax replayed in his mind again. They definitely did have some things to discuss.
"Later," she reiterated, before giving him a quick peck on the mouth and opening the door.
Leonard wasn't having the best day. Or, hell, the best week.
He always envisioned marrying Penny as the pinnacle of happiness, but so far that wasn't how it felt. Things were still weird between them since his confession in the car on the way to Vegas, and aside from continually begging for forgiveness he wasn't sure what else he could do to make things better.
Really, he had wanted to skip dinner with the group tonight and try talking to her about it again, but Penny hadn't been agreeable to that idea and the whole ride to pick up the food had been tense. It didn't help that Sheldon and Amy were acting weirder than usual once they got back to the apartment either. Amy had come out of Sheldon's bedroom looking flustered while Sheldon rushed off to the bathroom. Amy explained that she was helping him reorganize his comic book collection and there had been more dust accumulation than expected, which was why Sheldon was now taking a shower before eating.
Whatever, Leonard didn't have the energy to worry about them. Howard, Raj, and Bernadette arrived soon after and they divvied up the food while Sheldon quickly finished cleaning up, and they all sat down to dinner. Leonard found it hard to focus on the conversations around him, though, and eventually he got up to use the bathroom himself, just to steal a few moments alone.
That's how he ended up in front of the mirror, silently studying his frown before sighing, removing his glasses, and splashing some cold water on his face, When he replaced his glasses, that's when he saw it.
Sure, he had only been to the dirty store once, but he recognized the little purple remote control sitting there next to the tissue box. He knew what it was for.
Could it really be? Penny had used the bathroom soon after Sheldon vacated it, had she left it there for him to find? Was this her way of finally forgiving him?
It seemed too good to be true, but it was the only logical explanation. It wasn't like Sheldon would know about or have any use for a sex toy. It had to be Penny offering herself up to him, and in front of their friends no less. It was a bit out of his comfort zone, but if she was up for it, who was he to argue?
Leonard grinned. Married life was finally looking up.
He slipped the remote into his pocket and quickly rejoined the group, trying not to act too giddy. When Raj started telling some boring story about taking Cinnamon to the groomer, he decided that was as good a time as any to try it out, and snuck his hand inside his pocket to hit the power button. However, much to his disappointment, Penny didn't react at all except to look at him strangely when he kept staring at her.
Just then, Amy abruptly stood up, demanded to talk to Sheldon, and dragged him down the hall.
"Anyone know what that's about?" Penny asked.
While everyone else shook their heads, Leonard suppressed another sigh, not in the mood for more weirdness from them. He hit the power button on the remote one more time, but still nothing happened. Either the vibrator it belonged to was broken or Penny hadn't been offering to mess around with him after all. He'd have to ask her about it later, if he ever managed to find a non-awkward way to do that. For now, there was nothing left for him to do but go back to his food and try not to feel too let down.
