"C'mon, Val," Kat coaxed her friend. "You can't stay home every night just because JC isn't home. You're too young to bury yourself alive, because he's never home."

Val really was tired of spending all night every night at home – waiting for JC to call – if he remembered. She was beginning to feel like an old shoe to her live-in boyfriend –comfortable and taken for granted.

"When was the last time you actually went out?"

Val shrugged. She couldn't remember exactly. "Before the tour."

"That's been months! I'll pick you up at nine," Kat insisted. "Be ready to party."

"But—" Val protested.

"No but's. We're going."

That Night:

She had forgotten how much she had enjoyed just being at The Club, Val thought as she sipped her drink. Simply being out with people was a change of pace. Lately, all she been doing was working and waiting for JC. She loved him and she'd never even think of messing around on him, but she was a gregarious person. She needed other people around her.

"Hey, beautiful lady."

Val looked up to see a handsome blond standing over her. He was good-looking enough, she supposed, but not as gorgeous as JC – then no one was in her eyes.

"Would you like to dance? I've seen you sitting her all by your lonesome and thought you might need the company."

It wasn't his company she craved. Val shrugged. She guessed it couldn't hurt. Not one little dance.

********

"Val! Baby, I'm home!" JC dropped his bag as he listened to his voice echo in the empty house. It had been a bitch of a week. All he wanted was to spend some down time with Val. Being with her always recharged him. After searching the house, he didn't find her, so he called her friend Kat.

"Kat's not here," her roommate informed him. "She and Val went to The Club."

"The Club!" Josh shouted. The very thought of Val grinding with some other guy made his blood run hot. "Uh, thanks." Ringing off, he grabbed his car keys. Damn! He was tired and all he wanted to do was get horizontal with his girl – Now he had to chase her across town.

Val had been a party girl when he met her – that's how he had met her. Some thing sparked between them the first time the danced together. The girl could work it finer than anyone and she knew she'd gotten to him by the gleam in her luminous green eyes. When the song finished, she had begun to walk away. He couldn't let that happen. He didn't let that happen. He'd taken her to a little coffee shop and they talked for hours. He had discovered a sweet, smart woman that belied her 'party girl' appearance.

Val had never treated him like a celebrity, though she did admit to being a fan of his music. When he moved her in with him, she declared she was not his housekeeper and deemed he could do his own laundry. One thing he never had to worry about was an over-sized ego. His girl would cut him off at the knees – and he appreciated that about her.

But now, she had gone back to The Club without him – and since the only reason for going there was to hook-up, he could only suspect the worst. Dammit, she had known what she had been getting into when she agreed to move in!

*********

JC couldn't believe his eyes. There was Val on the packed dance floor, her long brown hair swaying with the sensuous movements of her slender body, grinding away with some over-blonde club-stud! The guy had predatory gleam in his eye that sent the primitive urge to smash his face through JC.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" JC demanded over the throbbing music.

Val jumped back from her dance partner, turning wide eyes to the man she loved and adored. "Jace!"

"Get lost," the club-stud growled. "This one's mine."

JC's eyebrows rose in surprised. "That right, Val?"

"Of course not."

"If you wanna grind, baby girl—" JC grabbed her and jerked her close. "Let's do it right." Putting his hands on her waist, he slid them down and around to cup her little butt as he thrust his lower body hard against hers. "Is this what you wanted from that guy?" he taunted.

"No." Normally, being this close to JC made her weak and giddy with anticipation, but he was doing this to punish her, not pleasure her. And she didn't much like it, even though she could feel every hard inch of him.

"You sure?" One hand moved around to the front and slid beneath her short skirt.

"Stop it," she commanded.

"We're you gonna stop him?" he growled. "Was he gonna stick his hand—"

"Stop it now." Val shoved him away. This was not the sweet, gentle JC she had fallen helplessly in love with. Stomping away, she tried to locate Kat.

"Not so fast." JC grabbed her arm. "Looking for your new boyfriend? You're going the wrong away—"

"You are such a prick. No, I'm looking for the man I love. He doesn't seem to be here."

"Why should he be? How is he supposed to feel when he gets home and you aren't there and he finds you with your crotch riding another man's leg?"

"I was just dancing. Nothing more."

"Dancing? You were humping his leg!"

She wanted to remind him that's how they had met, but wisely kept it to herself. Val tore her arm from his grip. "Just leave me the hell alone," she grumbled.

This time he didn't try to stop her, following her through the crush of grinding bodies until she located her friend.

Val didn't have to say a word when Kat looked her way.

"Holy shit!" Kat spat when she saw an angry JC advancing. "I take it you're going home with him."

"No—"

"Yes, she is." JC broke in, taking Val's arm in an unbreakable grip. "Say good-night, Val," he told her as he towed her towards the exit.

"Let me go!" Val hissed angrily. "How dare you treat me like so much baggage! I don't care who you think you are!

"Shut up."

When they reached his jeep, he fairly tossed her in the passenger seat, then walked around to the driver's door. At the first stoplight, he spared her a glance. Her arms were crossed and she looked straight ahead, a mutinous expression marring her beautiful face. "Why'd you do it?" he demanded sharply. "Why The Club?"

"Oh, I don't know." She threw her hands into the air in frustration. "Could it be the fact that I got tired of sitting at home, waiting for you to remember I'm alive? When was the last time you bothered to call?"

JC frowned. He couldn't remember. He'd always craved daily contact with Val. He'd been so caught up in his work… "Shit!"

"That's right," she purred like an angry feline. "You don't have a clue, do you?"

"It's been a while, huh?" His anger was cooling quickly.

"Try two weeks."

"Two weeks! Not possible. I can't go without the sound of your voice that long."

"It's been two weeks, JC," Val stated quietly.

A quick glance in her direction confirmed what he suspected, tears were running down her lightly tanned cheeks. "Ah, baby, don't"

"You fucking Neanderthal!" she sobbed. "You leave me alone for months on end. I go out one night and have one dance and you have the nerve…" her voice trailed off in tears.

JC said nothing, reaching out to cover the clenched fists in her lap with one of his big hands. He kept his silence until he pulled into the driveway. When Val made ready to get out, he halted her. "Let me, baby girl." Coming around, he lifted her into his strong arms and carried her into the house.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured, nuzzling her silky hair. "Val, you gotta know how much you mean to me."

Val lifted her cat-green eyes to meet his gaze. They were still awash with tears.

"Cut me a break here, beautiful." Her tears always made him feel like the biggest bastard in the world – and, usually, rightly so. Val didn't cry easily; so when it did happen he was in serious trouble.

"Jace," she whispered softly against his neck, making a shiver chase down his spine, "make love to me."

"You know I will." JC carried her to the bedroom.

Once he put her to her feet, she reached up for a hungry, demanding kiss. Val slid her hands beneath his black-wife beater, caressing his flat stomach and lean ribs. Groaning, JC tore his mouth away and started nipping at her throat.

"What's wrong, Chasez?" she taunted. "One-eyed crotch monster got a problem?"

He chuckled at the nickname she'd given one of her favorite parts of his anatomy early on in their relationship, when they had both been insatiable. "Yeah, it's been a while since his been in his tight, hot nest."

Val pushed his shirt off, then opened his pants. She reached in to stroke him firmly though the fabric of his sport-shorts.

Moaning with pleasure, he muttered. "I'll lose my load in my shorts, you keep that up."

"Can't have that." Kneeling before him, she helped him lose his footwear, then lowered the pants and shorts until he could kick them away. His throbbing shaft fairly leaped out when released from the confines of his clothes. "Looks like my monster's been neglected lately," she announced as she teased her tongue along his hot length.

"My hand can't do what your sweet, little mouth does." He gazed down with a lazy smile.

Val licked at his sacs, knowing it drove him crazy.

"Uh! Baby, you do that so good!" When her tongue ran along the ultra-sensitive underside of his erection, he moaned, "Quit teasing, Val!" Swirling around the swollen head, her tongue danced along him until he put his hands on her head. "Take it," he commanded softly.

Val carefully took him in, swallowing several times to accommodate his length, deep-throating him. Sucking and licking, she knew exactly what he wanted.

"Harder," he urged, thrusting his hips at her. "Yeah, baby, you're getting me there – Val baby…"

She felt his body tense as he rammed faster at the back of her throat.

"Uuh! Damn, Val!" he cried as she shot down her throat, feeling her swallow all of him. After a moment to recover, he looked down at his beautiful, generous baby and smiled. "I'm supposed to making love to you," he reminded her as he helped her to her feet.

"Some times, the crotch monster can't wait." She grinned.

JC made swift work of removing her clothes. He lifted her to the bed and came down beside her. He pressed soft, nibbling kisses on her mouth until she reached up to hold his head to complete the hot kiss she demanded. Their tongues dueled and mated as his hands cupped and stroked her breasts, making her squirm.

JC lifted his head. "Easy, baby."

"But I want—"

"We're gonna do this my way." He moved his lips down her throat to the rapidly beating pulse at the base. He sucked strongly, flicking his tongue at the fluttering beat.

"Don't torture me, baby."

"I won't." Tenderly tugging at one begging nipple, he suckled the other one hungrily.

"Jace!" she cried, spearing her fingers in his hair.

Switching his mouth to the other breast, he lightly trailed his long fingers down her body. He sought the soft curls that hid her treasure from him.

"Oh!" she gasped as he slid one finger along her slit until she opened for him.

"You are so wet! Want me, baby girl?"

"Oh, yes!"

"Want my mouth on you? Tasting your sweetness?"

"Oh, please, JC," she begged as he inserted one pumping finger into her.

"Well, since you asked so nice" JC moved lower, then flicked his tongue along her swollen petals before seeking his prize. "Mmm Val, you're so sweet." He found her pleasure bud and swirled his tongue around it, teasing.

"Now, who's torturing who?" she demanded breathlessly.

He sucked and nibbled on her until her hips were lifting up, grinding into his face. "Oh, please, Jace, now! I need you inside me, baby," she pleaded. "Fill me."

Raising himself above her on his elbows, he commanded, "Put me in, Val."

Wrapping her hand around his hard length, she led him to her opening. "Now, baby!"

He plunged into her. Damn, she was so tight, so wet and hot! Pulling almost all the way out, he plunged down again strongly.

"Ahh!"

"Feel me, baby? Every fucking inch is all yours," he growled. Lowering his mouth to her breasts, he sucked hard as his hips pounded into hers.

"Oh, Jace!"

JC felt her clench around him, knowing she was about to fly apart. "C'mon, baby girl, give it to me. Drench me!"

Val lifted into his downward thrust. "Aahh!" Her body was strung tight then released into white-hot waves of pleasure. "Jaay-Cee!" she cried.

"Damn!" he shouted as her explosion triggered his.

For a long moment, he rested his head against her shoulder, waiting for breath. Then he lifted his eyes to hers. "I love you, baby," he told her softly, sincerity glowing in his deep blue eyes.

Val smiled tenderly, stroking his damp hair from his face. "I love you, too, Jace."

He rolled to his back, bringing her along to rest against his chest. "Next time I'm neglecting you, let me know, okay? Seeing you with that guy – Baby, I just lost it."

"I didn't go to spite you or to cheat on you. I never would. I was just lonely and bored."

"I know that. It isn't gonna happen again," he promised.

Knowing he was so focused when it came to music, she asked, "You sure?"

"If it does, I'll just have to start packing you along with my keyboard when I leave."

Her eyes went wide with surprise. Easily reading her mind, he laughed. "Yes, really. I am not joking." Lifting his head, he gave her a hard kiss. "I miss you, too, Val."

Val grinned. "You and the one-eyed crotch monster."

Teasingly, he flipped her to her back, coming over her. "Speaking of the crotch monster. He's ready to go again."

Drawing his head down to kiss him hungrily, she murmured, "Then so am I."