A/N: More to come later this week :). I was hoping to get more done today, but it's getting late, so I decided to split this scene in order to stick to my best intentions to update today! I would apologise for making this "night" drag, but fuck me, do they deserve it XD. Reviews would be massively appreciated! Hope you all had a lovely weekend!
"... I was wrong about you."
"You were."
The blonde agrees simply, before tipping back the last of her wine and placing her glass down on the table.
"But what do you plan to do about it?"
"That's fighting talk, Dr Cameron."
House warns, moving his fingers wickedly as he strives to earn another gasp, but the blonde beats him at his own game as she leans back in to brush her lips against his with none of the tentative unease favoured when they'd first started their risky exploration of one another.
"It was a suggestion; an invitation. Beyond that, it's entirely what you choose to make it- ah!"
Cameron hisses as House nips at the sly velvet of her tongue none too gently, and she threads her fingers into his hair and offers a playful tug to encourage the cruel progression of his touch.
"I'm surprised you allowed yourself to be so candid while playing our little game."
House muses, expressing his appreciation with a devious application of pressure of his palm, and the blonde laughs against the scruff lining his jaw as she admits breathlessly
"Me too... I just hope you're not about to make me regret it."
"Hm, that really depends on what you mean."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Now, I don't plan on making your life a misery with my newfound knowledge once you've been declared safe and sane enough to be allowed back on hospital premises-"
"-Hey!... And I'll believe that when I see it."
"Mm. That's probably wise... As for giving you cause to regret your sordid confessions tonight... Well..."
House growls as he lowers his attention to the blonde's throat and experiments curiously in light of her recent admission and chafes pale skin with his teeth; applying pressure he's rarely dared to even in his imagination when it comes to Cameron while removing his fingers from slick heat and gripping her thigh hard enough to bruise.
"... If you're trying to make a point, you're definitely going the wrong way about it..."
She chuckles, tipping her head back to coax further onslaught while getting her own back further south as her hand creeps to rest suggestively over taut denim.
"I can make my peace with that."
House replies sincerely, doubling down on this statement when the blonde works blindly to release him from the confines of his jeans.
"Really? You hate being wrong."
She teases, before yelping appreciatively when the rough caress of House's teeth progresses to a crude bite to her clavicle.
"... Careful, Cameron."
He warns, soothing the sting with the flat of his tongue, and she squeezes him in her hand before pulling back and addressing him candidly.
"I'm sick of being careful, and even sicker of you perceiving me that way. The last time I decided to quit being so fucking cautious, it landed me in a world of trouble... Maybe I want to see what that's like when I'm a willing participant and not unwitting prey."
"There's only so much trouble I'm willing to subject you to..."
"Good, because there's only so much trouble that I'll allow. When you cross the line, I'll let you know, but what about the reaction you just received made you feel you needed to warn me as though worried I might already be in too deep? If anything you just heard suggested I was unhappy with the way you were playing things, I'd recommend doing a little more research the next time you go not typing 'spanking' into the search bar- ah!"
The blonde chuckles huskily as House grabs hold of her jaw and holds her still as he stares her down, appreciating both the surprise and the hunger darkening his gaze as she simply studies him calmly in return.
"... How did you do it?"
He asks eventually, easing his grip in favour of rubbing away a smear of lipstick smudged by their earlier kiss.
"Do what?"
Cameron frowns.
"How did you put up with me for going on three years without much more than a peep when this side of you exists?"
"I peeped."
"Not loudly."
"Yes, well. I've already told you, that's not really my style."
"I was being serious."
"So was I... You were my boss, and you'd told me multiple times that you had no interest in me, occasionally even going so far as to hint at mild disgust. It would have been kind of awkward if I'd responded to that with snarky comments about your taste in porn and your understanding of dominance-led scenarios... Similarly, it would have been kind of weird to platonically elaborate on my willingness to have you bite or mark me."
"I'd probably have appreciated the absurdity."
"I don't doubt that, but I had no desire to feel any more anxious around you than I already did."
"... Was it really that bad?"
"House..."
"I'm genuinely asking!"
He assures her swiftly, looking from sparse freckles to the bruising just visible below her bottom lip.
"... Sometimes it was. Not always. Sometimes it was bad because you'd hound me, but sometimes it was sort of exhilarating. I've always felt on edge around you, and I guess that was part of the attraction."
"Yes, there's a whole category dedicated to it if you check the search bar."
House smirks as he plays the blonde's previous teasing back at her, before swallowing when she merely offers him a smile and agrees coolly
"Exactly."
"Huh..."
"Mm... Honestly though, in terms of how things have changed between us recently, you have to understand that I did more while lying curled up on those lockers than freak out over my predicament and weep about the state of our relationship."
"... You wept?"
"I mean, I was delirious at one point, House, I'm sure I did all sorts."
"I-"
"-Yes. I wept. But I also cussed you out something rotten... We've addressed what happened between us that night - or, rather, what didn't happen - several times now, and each time it's been heavy. It's been a hard and fraught discussion. I've told you already; I was upset, I was angry, I felt humiliated. But I was other things, too. Lighter things. I was vexed. Annoyed. Pissed! I was so fucking done with your shit, and the longer I lay up there freezing my ass off, the harder I cussed you out... Things changed between us after that night in my apartment, and they changed again - I changed - after being stuck in that basement. Of course I did. For a moment there, I wasn't sure whether I'd ever have the opportunity to call you any of the truly wonderful inventive names I'd come up with for you, which was frustrating as well as terrifying... I feel less inclined to share them with you now. I feel better. I feel good. But, while I might not feel the need to call you every bad word I can string together while remaining vaguely coherent, I'm also not afraid to tell you what's on my mind; to make a peep."
Cameron shrugs as though oblivious to the weight that's settled over them as she waits out House's silence. Reading his expression as pensive rather than perturbed, she shakes off the mantel of her words with a grin.
"Besides, it's not like you can go telling anyone any of the stuff I've told you tonight, and if you did, they'd presume you were making it up... I'm sickeningly sweet and tediously predictable remember?"
"No."
House replies simply, capturing the blonde's lips aggressively as he tries to shake off the underlying dread instilled by her phrasing, before groaning into their kiss as she reapplies pressure to her touch.
"... Get up. Come with me."
He orders before she can make progress with his undoing, and he pushes himself up off the sofa; the fall of his shirt just sufficient to provide him with dignity as he leads them swiftly down a darkened hallway towards his bedroom.
"Sorry there's no candles or rose petals."
He grunts as he closes the door behind them.
Glancing around the room curiously as she takes a moment to catalogue his things, Cameron eventually shrugs and perches on the edge of his bed.
"Given the tone of the evening, that would have bordered on slightly creepy."
"Really? That wouldn't have done anything for you?
House grins as he takes up a seat beside her, and the blonde shakes her head as she picks up the book on his nightstand and inspects the blurb.
"I mean, I might have found myself mildly offended by your perpetually disappointing opinion of me, but no, seeing as neither of us is losing our virginity, celebrating an engagement or obsolete holiday, or consummating our wedding night, I'm good on the petals and candles front."
"... That would be quite some setting for losing your virginity."
"Right?... Wait, do you mean that in a romantic way?"
"No, I mean it in a way that might later require therapy."
House growls, and he raises a brow when Cameron chuckles wickedly and nods her agreement as she places the book back where she found it.
"Your sheets appear clean, and, so far as I can tell, there are no cameras hidden behind picture frames or stuffed animals... So far, so good."
The blonde muses as she goes back to drinking in their surroundings.
"Your standards are worryingly low."
"Ha! Lucky for you..."
She shoots him a smirk before leaning back in to taste him and murmuring against his scruff as she slips her hand back beneath the tails of his shirt.
"They're not low. Don't forget, I had to work pretty damn hard to get this far."
"Yes... That's pretty fucking baffling to consider right now..."
House mutters through gritted teeth as he shoots a glance at the silk slip of her dress that does little to cover toned thighs.
"Yeah?"
The blonde replies sweetly as she finds a cruelly slow rhythm. Closing his eyes as he allows her to continue for as long as he dares, House soon breaks and turns in further towards her as he runs his hand roughly up her side to palm her breast through thin fabric; careful to start its course several inches above her hip.
"Take it off."
He instructs, pushing her away before he loses the will, and he watches as she slips obediently from the bed and returns his gaze.
"Tit for tat."
She challenges smartly, and he opens his mouth to mock her childish phrasing before any further insight gets lost in his throat as he watches her pull sinful midnight up over her head.
Shaking out heavy curls, she sighs as she lets her dress fall onto the floor and wrinkles her nose in a way that strikes him as terrifyingly familiar given their current context.
"Not the most graceful striptease I've ever given."
She apologises, squeezing her shoulder pointedly, and House swallows as he drinks in the scant lace of her bra before holding up his hand and appeasing her gruffly
"I know the feeling. I was stuck using my non-dominant hand to perpetrate our fun over the counter."
"Mm... You know I'm already planning to fuck you, right? You don't have to try to impress me."
Cameron retorts smoothly, reclaiming her perch on the bed, and House shakes his head with a gruff chuckle; her crass wording affecting him exquisitely as it so often does when she catches him by surprise with it.
"I'm disappointed. I set you up so well there with my choice of phrase."
He laments jokingly as he pushes himself up to get undressed; privately envying the blonde who'd achieved the same result with far greater allure so far as he's concerned.
"So, set me up for it again..."
She counters with a grin as she studies him with open appreciation. Shooting her a warning glance as he sits back down next to her, House reaches back and unhooks her bra with a purposeful tug.
"Hm, not bad for a guy using his lame hand."
She teases, slipping free of black lace with a hiss as she receives a nip to her bottom lip in reprimand.
"Things will only get more fun as I regain full use of my fingers."
House promises with a purposefully lecherous expression; hoping for a smirk.
"Yeah, well, likewise."
The blonde muses with her hand going to her hip as she falls back suggestively on the bed. Studying her silently, House watches as the impish tug to her lips dissipates and she simply stares up at him pensively with her hair fanned out messily over the bedsheets; allowing the suggestive implication of their playful comments to linger dangerously between them.
"Something to look forward to..."
House states finally, dropping his gaze to the clean patch of gauze covering the incision to blame for everything that's come to follow, before meeting the blonde's green stare silently.
"... We have to get through tonight, first..."
Cameron replies quietly, looking up at him expectantly as she waits for him to make a move.