A/N: As always, sorry for the wait. I was working on a Halloween story that took up a chunk of the time I'd set aside for fanfic writing, so I apologise for once again demoting this story to the bottom of the pile. (Said pile is now back to just this story until Christmas shorts, so it's not as bad as it used to be when I would have 5 stories going at once! 😅). It's also proving hard writing the smut scenes I want to when I've gone and injured both characters 😒, which did admittedly put more of a creative block on this chapter than I would have liked (but, hey, all the more reason to explore later, right?).
In real-life news pertaining to the delay on this fc, I'm an apparent masochist and decided I desperately need a third degree, so uni is currently beating my ass and not in a pleasurable way.
I'm not going to promise another chapter next week (although, I'm hoping there will be one!) as I'm having quite major work done to the house which I think will be stressful and noisy, but I do promise that I will show this story some more love before I get started on Christmas one-shots.
On that note, if anyone has a suggestion/word prompt/ theme for this year's winter fic, let me know 😊.
Happy reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Reviews would be appreciated!
"... We have to get through tonight, first..."
Cameron replies quietly, looking up at him expectantly as she waits for him to make a move.
"We've done this before."
House smirks, although the expression falters and gives way to a knowing nod when the blonde states seriously
"Not like this."
"No. Not like this."
He agrees, recalling the liquor and tension that had precipitated their previous exploration into the forbidden unknown, and he takes a moment to study her without shame before admitting pensively
"I meant what I said in the prayer room, you know, although I know, at the time, you weren't especially keen to hear it. Being with you was better than I'd ever imagined it, and as we've already covered, my imagination has a tendency to run wild."
"Being with me."
Cameron repeats with a teasing note in her voice.
"Fucking you."
House corrects, watching as the blonde bites her lip before she lowers her gaze to contemplate the sparsely-haired planes of his chest with a small smile.
"I wasn't opposed to you telling me I felt good or looked good. It was the tone you used to do it in... Generally, when someone tells you you're a good fuck they don't do it while glaring at you as though you should be ashamed of the fact."
"... Do people tell you that a lot?"
House asks curiously, striving for humour while simultaneously urging certain parts of his anatomy not to react as eagerly as they might like to in response to her wording.
"I've never had any complaints."
"No... I'm sure you haven't."
He muses, running a finger lightly up the soft ripple of her ribs before skimming the underside of her breast. Glancing up from its slow progress to meet the sly glitter in green eyes, he goads her gruffly
"Well, aside from your apparent lack of expertise in playing dominant."
"He didn't complain, I did... And it's not the role I would have chosen if we were labelling that kind of thing."
"Oh yeah, that's right."
House smirks, applying some roughness to his touch as he teases her nipple to earn himself a sinful grin. Lowering his hand down to play over slick flesh with his gaze locked with the blonde's, he draws quick circles to coax ever more shallow breaths before forcing Cameron to yield and close her eyes when he suddenly dips deep.
"Quit messing around..."
She scolds him through clenched teeth, and House chuckles darkly as he offers a cruel thrust of his fingers in reprimand for her impatience only to earn himself a bemused frown, the effect of which is somewhat ruined by the dusky blush colouring the blonde's cheeks.
"You realise two can play at that game?"
Cameron warns, pulling him down into a needy, open-mouthed kiss before laughing quietly when House grunts in surprise when she takes him in her hand with explicit intent.
"Yes, but only one of us is a slave to their biology, so I suggest you stop that if you want to ride the rollercoaster and get your money's worth."
"Hm... And I suggest you never use that analogy again or the fairground might have to close, and not due to flooding."
The blonde pulls a face while heeding his warning and allowing her hands to fall obediently to her sides.
"You're mean."
House accuses appreciatively, offering her thigh a light smack that speaks of a lingering sense of uncertainty as to how the act might be received.
"Sometimes, but that was more just some friendly advice."
Cameron counters, raising a brow expectantly as she waits for House to make the most of her suggestive position. She considers commenting on his tentative tap to her leg but decides to address the matter through actions rather than words when the time feels right before she potentially ruins a good thing.
"Noted."
He accepts, leaning over to open the drawer to the bedside cabinet only to adopt a frown as he considers the square packet in his hand. Looking down at the blonde uneasily, he seems at a loss for something to say, and she glances down at the wrapped condom and offers him a sigh.
"We did several stupid things that night."
"We did."
"I have it somewhat covered, but if there's a reason I should go and get checked out, I will..."
"No. No reason."
"Likewise."
She shrugs, reaching down to take the packet from him with an expression that forbids him from getting caught up in his thoughts over something that no longer matters.
After all, in the grand scheme of what's happened since, I'm not sure I can bring myself to stress over such a comparatively minuscule lapse in judgment.
Swallowing as she supposes this uncharacteristic take on the matter is all too telling of her understanding of what could have happened down in the storage basement, she hastily pushes any further thoughts away and tears open the packet with her teeth.
"If the rollercoaster would permit some quick maintenance?"
She teases, and House shakes his head with a sharp intake of breath as she covers him.
"Alright, I hear it now. Never again."
He concedes, punishing her for her husky laughter with a rough kiss and a firm push to coax her legs apart.
"Is this going to be alright?"
He asks with a frown down at her hip as she cradles him between her thighs.
"If it hurts, I'll tell you. If it aches, I figure you'll take my mind off it."
"... Although that's not really what you want, is it?"
House grins, still rather titillated by this unlikely information, and Cameron rolls her eyes impatiently as she corrects
"I told you, surgery and stitches aren't something I get off on, which is probably a good thing! My hip was fine last time we did this, but in terms of what I might like, I more meant- ah!"
The blonde hisses as House grabs her jaw and leans in to kiss her with a hard nip to her bottom lip, and she grins with battered flesh still caught between cruel teeth.
"Last time, you were on top."
He reminds her, pulling back and running the pad of his thumb experimentally over the shallow indent that now decorates the fading bruise of her own making.
"I can be again..."
She offers, before watching as House climbs off the bed to stand in front of it; yelping appreciatively when he grabs hold of her calf to pull her around and close to the edge.
"Or not!"
She chuckles, and House raises a brow as his experimental manhandling incites laughter rather than annoyance.
"We're not quite at the stage where we need to get repetitive, yet."
He scolds her, and the blonde lets out a choked expletive as he enters her with a firm grip on her thigh with his good hand.
"Hm... Yet? You almost sound as though you're planning for this to become a regular thing..."
She jokes breathlessly, offering House a small nod to approve of what he does next.
"Is that a problem?"
He challenges, moving with notably less caution than he'd appropriated that night in her apartment, and Cameron shakes her head as she grips the bed sheets with an affirmative noise when he brings her leg up to deepen the angle of his thrusts.
"No, there's a couple of things I'd like to try..."
She replies huskily, closing her eyes as House tightens his grip on her ankle while running his other hand up the outside of the thigh she keeps lowered to save her hip; his touch firm and demanding as he reaches further to offer her ass a crude squeeze.
"Yeah?"
"Uhuh... Kind of an incentive to crack on with physio..."
"Oh-ho! I can't tell if that's a threat or a promise!"
"Bit of both."
Cameron pants with a smirk, opening her eyes to meet House's gaze as his movements pick up speed before growing tellingly clumsy, and she raises her left leg with a wince to pull him into her further.
"Fuck..."
He responds rather ineloquently, struggling to get the word out, and the blonde flashes her teeth before nipping them hard over her lip when he buries himself deep with a hoarse groan as his fingers dig fresh bruises into her flesh.
"Stay there."
She orders when he looks up at her with his breathing ragged, lowering her hand to play fast movements over slick folds until she chokes back a moan as her thighs slam closed against his hips.
"Fuck!"
House repeats, feeling her walls flutter around him as he softens inside of her, and the blonde nods in distracted agreement as she bites down on the back of her hand.
"Yeah."
Cameron grins when she trusts herself to speak, letting her legs fall limp as House takes a step back.
"I mean..."
House starts hoarsely, unsure what more to say as he rubs his scruff while drinking in his current view with a continued sense of wonder. Something that becomes immediately more dangerous when the blonde opens her eyes and looks up at him with a silent challenge shadowing her expression.
How are you going to play this?
She doesn't say it, and he doesn't need her to.
Offering Cameron an uncharacteristically affectionate smile, he reaches down to collect his shirt from off the floor. He does so in favour of picking up the midnight promise of her dress, and when he tosses the relatively creased material at her, he relishes the look of naked surprise she throws back at him.
Relishes her naked look in general.
"Wait here."
He instructs, and the blonde raises a brow as he turns heel and walks out the door; pushing herself to sit up with a belated shiver that has little to do with the temperature of the room.
What the hell now?