She shifted on her feet. His breath was warm and she could feel the telltale tingle that reminded her of their previous night together.

Dangerous, Lisa, dangerous.

“You wouldn’t be afraid, would you?”

That put fire in the eyes.

“Of course I’m not afraid,” she replied, hands on hips. “Especially not of you!”

“Okay then. So you and me, even playing field.”

“Excuse me?”

“I assume this is still the way.” House headed towards her bedroom. “Yep, found it! Wow, Cuddy, still haven’t redecorated.”

She followed him into her room, still unsure of him being there again. “You really know how to sweetalk a girl, House.”

House sat down on her bed. “Watch me.”

Cuddy arched an eyebrow. “If you think I’m going to watch you have sex with yourself on my bed, I’m going to go and watch a movie.”

“What is this strange thing I see? Could it be Cuddy lightening up?”

“You keep going like that and I’m going to heave you out on your ass.”

“Lisa. Watch me.”

Her eyes locked onto his and then shifted to watch as he put his cane on the other side of the bed. He gave her a lopsided grin.

“Even playing field now. Your call.”

Cuddy unfolded her arms. “Even if we did have sex…I’m not sure I want to go through all that again.”

“Me being cranky and mad?” House tilted his head. “What’s changed?”

“That’s true.”

“Cud…Lisa, you made a call. If you’d listened to what I asked you to do, I wouldn’t be here right now.” He paused. “Although that might have made life a whole lot easier for you. It would be more boring though.”

She cracked a small smile. “That’s true.”

“I know you can let go of this. You have to.”

“Why? So you get sex?”

“No, so you can stop torturing yourself.”

“You torture yourself.”

“That’s different. It adds to my charm.”

“House.”

“Let it go.”

She sighed and walked over to the bed. “Am I going to regret this in the morning?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe we’ll be dead in the morning and it won’t matter. Maybe something will shift and we’ll be okay. Only one way to find out.”

“True.” Cuddy sat on the side of the bed. “So.”

“Stop talking,” House instructed her, as he cupped the back of her head with his hand.

“Who made…” The rest of her sentence was lost as he fused his lips to hers.

She moaned, realizing how much she had missed this, and not just because it shut him up for five seconds.

“That’s what I like to hear,” House told her. “Definitely missed hearing that.”

“Shut up,” Cuddy replied, moving in to kiss him again.

He gently nudged her until she lay on her back, his hands slipping under the sweatshirt. Her eyes closed, hands finding their way underneath his shirt.

His tongue ran across the seam of her lips and her

“I hate that you can do this to me,” she whispered, lifting her arms as he tugged the sweatshirt off.

“No, what you hate is that I don’t do it often enough.”

With an ease that irritated her, House unsnapped her bra clasp and tossed the offending material out of the way.

Confronted with her breasts, he smiled. “Hello, my lovelies. Long time no see.”

“I swear to God you have to be the only man in history who talks to breasts.”

“Oh I…”

“And names them.”

“I didn’t want to offend them.” Cupping one in each hand, he looked up at her. “Georgie and Maxie Jones.”

“And you named them after sisters from General Hospital.”

“Why are you still talking?” His lips trailed kisses over one breast, his tongue circling her nipple.

She growled, arching up as her hands tightened at the back of his head.

He smirked at her reactions. They brought back memories of the other time they had been together. It didn’t matter how long it had been between dances. He knew her body almost as well as he knew his own. He knew where to touch to make her eyes squeeze shut, and where to press just a little firmer so that she bit her lip. He knew how and where to touch so that she would gasp, or groan, or plead with him to continue.

He always knew the exact moment when she was about to orgasm, and he always remembered how she looked when she did.

Right now, her eyes were watching him carefully as he trailed his hand down her body. As his fingers ran across her stomach, the muscles quivered and Cuddy’s eyes slipped shut.

“I definitely remember that.” His fingers stroked and caressed, watching as she sucked in deep breaths of air. “Always at the same point…” He pressed a kiss just above her belly button and went to work on the clasp of her pants.

It amazed Cuddy how different House could be in the bedroom. It had fascinated her the first time, how gentle he had been, how damn good he had been. He was big and hard and a perfect fit against her body. He liked it when she touched him, starting at his face and working her way down. Afterward, he had shocked her by putting his arm around her, letting her head rest against him.

At the time she had thought he was in some kind of Vicodin-induced haze. But now, with his hands gently working her pants and panties over her hips, she wasn’t so sure.

House ran his hands back up her legs, noting the look of concentration on her face. “Something on your mind?”

“You…” She paused. “You’ve got too many clothes on.”

No words of wit came to him as he started taking the rest of his clothes off. Cuddy watched him intently, eyes following his movements as she waited for each piece of skin to be revealed.

“Better?” he asked when he had finished.

Her eyes took him in. “Much.”

House didn’t move as she reached over, her fingers tracing the contours of his face. Her slow, rhythmic movements took her from his eyes, down to his lips, and finally her fingers trailed down his chest.

Cuddy leaned in, her lips brushing over his. “Just the same as before,” she whispered, before kissing him again.

---

Moments later found Lisa Cuddy smiling smugly. House was now flat on his back, his eyes closed and his mouth formed in a completely satisfied look.

Without batting an eyelid, he curved his arm around her, tugging her into his body.

“Again?” she murmured. “God, you’re insatiable.”

“We’re not dead.”

She rested her head against his shoulder. “I’m glad you noticed.”

“You’re going to want to have a deep and meaningful analysis of this experience, aren’t you?”

“Well, not right now.”

“How about not ever?”

“House…”

“You let go.” He yawned. “I think we need to make that a regular occurrence.”

“House…”

“Goodnight, Dr Cuddy.”

Damned if she’d let him have the last word.

“Goodnight, Dr House.”

FINIS