Back In His Arms
“JC,” he stated when his cell phone chimed as he rode in a taxi.
“Less flowers for both of us next time.” Kristin’s voice came over the connection.
“Hey, baby!”
“You way over did, Josh. Chelsea says thank you.”
“She’s welcome. How can I over do when I feel so much?”
Not answering, she asked, “Where are you going to be next week?”
“I leave tomorrow for Orlando – but, Kris, if you’re coming to New York...”
“Nope. I am heading to Orlando.”
“What? When?”
“I figure I’ll leave here Sunday evening and arrive in Orlando Sunday night. Recommend any hotel?”
“Fuck that and you damn well know it! Chez Chasez is where you’ll be staying. I’ll put on clean sheets.”
“I guess I expected that.”
“Let me know your flight. I’ll be at the airport.”
“Nonsense. I have to get a rental car. Unless you don’t want me to know your address...”
“How long do I get to keep you this time?”
“Until Friday afternoon. This is a prelim trip. If all goes well, I’ll have to go back a few weeks later.”
“Cool!” He was going to have his beautiful lady back in his arms sooner than he could have foreseen.
“I have to go now. Call me tonight.”
“Sure will, Kris. Thanks, baby.”
“I haven’t done anything – yet.”
JC didn’t hesitate to open his front door when he saw the rather non-descript dark sedan pulled into his drive. It had to be Kristin. He went to the car to help with her luggage.
“Mr. Chasez, should you be out here dressed like an invitation for sex?” Kristin asked as she stepped out of the car. He wore drawstring pajama bottoms, was shirtless and his hair looked damp as if he’d stepped out of the shower.
He grinned. Screw the paparazzi if they were around – his baby was here! He pulled her to him, pressing her against him. The feel of her soft cheek against his shoulder melted his insides. “Are you accepting the invitation, Kris?”
“In a few minutes.” She handed him the key for the trunk.
JC removed her suit bag and suitcase while she reached for her handbag, laptop and briefcase from the seat. They walked into the house like she was coming home from a business trip. The restraint was palatable until the door closed between them and the rest of the world.
Once her belongings were set down – the restraint snapped. Her hands were on his bare chest, sliding up to bury themselves in his hair as his large hands cupped her bottom to lift her into his kiss. Their mouths mated hungrily as their tongues twisted around the others. They lingered and tasted as if they could never get enough. Finally, he released her.
Panting, he said, “I missed you, Krissie.”
“I missed you, too darling.” Kristin hurriedly unbuttoned her jacket, letting it drop to the floor. Her skirt followed and she kicked her shoes away.
“Talk about invitation...” JC took in the sight of her wearing the midnight blue satin nightgown he had sent her. The black lace insert ran from the valley of her breasts to just below her navel. When he purchased it, he hadn’t imagined how sexy it would look on her perfect little body. Her nipples were clearly outlined in the dark fabric, making his mouth water. “You are like an engraved invitation for sin.”
“It was just the right length for a slip.” At the car rental place she had removed her bra, hose and underwear in preparation for this. She lifted on her toes to put her lips to his ear then whispered, “I’m not wearing panties.”
He groaned. “Damn it Kris...” He tried to remember to be a gentleman. She’d had a cross country flight and she as bound to be tired, maybe hungry...But her satin clad body was rubbing against him making him crazy...”I–um—did you eat on the flight? Can I get you something to eat?”
“Show me the bedroom. You’re what I’m hungry for,” she purred.
With that, JC scooped her up and carried her up the stairs. He was surprised when instead of teasing him with kisses and nibbles while her face was pressed to his neck; she snuggled into the embrace, calming some of the urgency. “How’s Chelsea?” he asked as he topped the landing.
“She isn’t used to her mother dating, much less being in love or having a sex life.”
“Some large issues.”
“Not large enough to make me give you up.” She assured him as he laid her on the wide bed in the master bedroom.
“I’m glad, Kris. I don’t want us to end – ever.” He came down beside her.
In preparation for her visit, he had made the bed with pale blue sheets and left the covers at the bottom of the bed. On the bedside stand, a fresh box of condoms sat open and ready. The lamp was on the dimmest setting, leaving the room in cocooning darkness.
They held each other, kissing, caressing, relearning each other’s bodies. It ended up being a slow, tender reunion.
JC thoroughly enjoyed having Kristin in his home. They’d wake in the morning, sharing breakfast before she went off to work. He worked in his home studio or went out to help others in their studios. He’d never been a clock-watcher, but he always left no later than six so he could have dinner with Kristin. Most nights, they made simple meals together, enjoying the freedom of being alone together. Having her with him gave him a brief taste of what marriage could be. It was a taste he liked – and wanted more.
“I guess I’ll have to move my base to the West coast,” JC announced as he and Kristin stretched out on his sofa one evening.
“Can you do that? I mean right now you aren’t touring and the like, but...”
“I’ll do it for us, Kris.”
“But LA is still a fair distance from Santa Clara.”
“I’ll look for a place in San Francisco.”
“Josh, it’s too early...”
He caught her chin to make her look at his eyes. “Is it? Baby, you never did say yes or no to my proposal...”
“Joshua, it is too soon to talk about relocating. It’s been less than a month. I can scarcely believe I’ve been your lover for three of those weeks. I mean it was less than a week and I was falling into bed with you...”
“You think it’s just sex? That it will burn itself out?”
“No...The suddenness of it scares me...I don’t doubt your sincerity for a moment...I feel like I’m twenty-two again trying to figure out where I go from here.”
At least, she wasn’t thinking of him in “boy toy” terms. JC could be thankful for that much, he supposed. “What can I do, Krissie? What can I give you to make you understand this is real for me?”
“Time. I need proof it can work.”
“You got it.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “Can I get you a ring at least? Something that says you’re mine?”
Kristin shook her head. “I don’t need a piece of jewelry to remind me of your love, Josh.”
“It’s less about that than primitive male marking territory. I don’t want other guys hitting on you.”
Her laughter was soft and precious. “You are my first lover in sixteen years. My dance card wasn’t exactly full.”
“I bet it was more that you ignored men than men not being interested. You were waiting for me.”
She slid her hands underneath his tee shirt, caressing the warm smooth skin over his ribs. “When I was twenty-two and casting around for relationships after college, you were all of fourteen.”
“Doing Mickey Mouse Club.”
She shuddered. “Not exactly marriage material.”
“I would have fallen in love if I had met you.”
“I would have been the age you were now before we could have consummated our relationship without it being statutory rape,” she reminded him.
JC brushed his mouth over hers. “It wouldn’t have happened – we had to wait.” He took her mouth hungrily, skillfully, making her arch up against him. “I had to grow up, to be a man before I could know you.”
She loved the feel of him pushing her into the cushion and the hardness of his body. The sex was fantastic, she had no complaints there, but she craved these intimate moments. And after hearing enough women talk, she realized her man was special – he understood intimacy and its importance. JC enjoyed the cuddling and the snuggling unlike any other male her friends and office mates spoke of. “Josh, what makes you different?”
“Different how?”
“You...I don’t know how to say it...you know how to be the total package. Lover. Friend.” She shrugged. “I don’t think there’s anything I can’t talk to you about.”
His smile was genuine and pleased. “That’s a wonderful compliment, Kris. Thank you.”
“See? How did you get that way?”
“Fantastic parents? Good genes? I don’t know.”
“For the record, I appreciate who you are with me, for me.”
“For the record, I want to be everything to you.”
Her sigh of contentment was more than reward enough – it struck a strong answering chord deep within. Not only could he be real with Kristin, she liked who he was. It had been so long since he’d felt he was loved for who he truly was. After the Mickey Mouse Club, he had never been sure if the girls or women liked Josh or JC Chasez. With Kristin, there was no question.
He smiled to himself – and since his mother had set it up, she couldn’t balk at the outcome! Karen had been very choosey when it came to the women in her son’s life. Her approval was hard to win – that hurdle was over. Karen liked Kristin.
JC had one more hurdle – Chelsea de Carlo.
“When do I get to meet Chelsea?” he asked.
“Chelsea?”
“Yeah, I mean I want to marry her mother. I need to meet her.”
“It’s too soon...”
“No. It is not. Kristin, I want her to like me. I want her to know Josh Chasez, not JC Chasez.”
Kristin reached up a finger to trace his beautiful lips. She loved the shape of his mouth. Sometimes, she was mesmerized just watching them move – so much so, that she didn’t hear his words...
His lips tipped up at the corners, realizing she wasn’t listening. It was kind of unusual to hold a woman like Kristin de Carlo in thrall. She wasn’t deliberately ignoring him. She just...was lost.
“Kris?”
“Mmm?....”
“Uh–meeting Chelsea?”
“When we’re engaged, I guess,” she answered absently.
“When is that?”
She wanted to keep him talking so she could watch his well-sculpted lips. “When would you like to be?”
“Soon.”
The ‘o’ of his mouth made her want it against hers – warm, mobile, tempting. “How soon is soon?”
“I’ll get the ring for when you come back. Okay, baby? Well make it official then.”
“If you’d like.”
“I’d like a lot, baby.”
Her hand went behind his neck to bring his face close to hers. “Kiss me,” she commanded.
“Gladly.”
It went beyond a mere kiss. Kristin took control of his mouth, taking, giving, ravaging, devouring. JC couldn’t recall anything like it. Total surrender had to be the sweetest defeat he’d ever known. She pushed him down to come over him. He felt himself opening helplessly like flowers receiving life giving rain and sun. Then his mouth wasn’t enough, her body moved on his, rubbing hard against him. Her hands stroked, caressed, fondled.
Abruptly, he sat up, dislodging the sweet tongue that had been in his mouth. “Damn, baby! You make me so fucking hard.... I wanna just drill you and...”
Kristin reached for the drawstring on his pajama pants and tugged. His thick manhood fairly leaped into her hand. She straddled his lap and he was buried in her slick heat. “Drill away,” she told him huskily.
“Damn, baby!” he repeated as he slid his hands beneath her gown to cup her buttocks. He’d never known a woman so wonderfully demanding and open. A woman so completely aware of her own sexual greed. “Not good drilling position,” he growled. He lowered them to the floor. Thrusting hard into her, he jammed his entire thick, heated length into her little body.
“Ahh!” she cried as pleasure mixed with pain.
“You sure about this?” he asked, reluctant to hurt her.
“Yesss!” He felt so deep, so wonderfully deep!
JC reared back then slammed into her once more.
“Josh!” Her nails tore at his back through his tee shirt.
“Kris!” One more retreat, one more jarring return.
“Finish me,” she demanded as her hands dipped to grasp his firm butt cheeks.
He quickened the pace but kept the savage penetration of his taking. Within bare moments, she was crying out, flying apart in his arms. His own bestial release soon followed. He collapsed heavily upon her, feeling the little jerks and quakes of her aftershocks.
“What-the-hell-was-that?” he panted.
“Drilling,” she stated breathlessly.
He shook his head. What had he done to her? She was too little, too fragile for such handling. She was still twitching beneath him. Beneath him...he rolled to her side. “Baby, why’d you let me?...”
“Don’t.” She didn’t have the energy to reassure him at the moment. That had been some ride he had taken her on. She ached – no, she hurt, but she had instigated it, had demanded it. She took his hand to simply hold it. “I’m okay.”
JC rose from the floor to lift her in his arms. He carried her upstairs. Tenderly, he placed her in bed, then lay next to her. He waited for her to speak again.
“Josh?”
“Yeah, Kris?”
“I think somewhere before that we got engaged...”
“If you still want me after that,” he said glumly.
She turned into his arms, snuggling her face in his neck. “It takes more than that to shake me.”
He let out a gusty sigh of relief as his arms came around her to press her close. “Thank God!” Soothingly, he began to rub gentle circles on her lower back.
Kristin purred at the pleasure of his sure, gentle touch. “Joshua...”
“Yeah, baby?”
“I don’t like big, gaudy rings, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I don’t like gold.”
He smiled in her hair. There was his boss lady!
Her hand slipped under his shirt to rest against his ribs – a habit she was developing before she drifted off to sleep. “Night, darling.”
“Night, Krissie.” JC held her as she drifted off to sleep, unable to find restful oblivion quickly. How had kisses led to that? He wondered. He’d never been so out of control – driven by demons. Of course, he’d never known anyone like Kristin before either! So strong...did somewhere in the back of his mind he resent and resist her strength, her dominance? No. No, he admired Kristin – all she was – he insisted to himself. Admired and loved.
He fell asleep. He admired and loved his boss lady....
Despite her protests, Friday afternoon, JC accompanied Kristin to the airport. This was too damn hard to keep doing, seeing her off. The only thing that made him feel remotely better was seeing it was just as difficult for her. She didn’t even try to hide the fact she was planning on missing him. That was somehow soothing. Kristin could be a cool customer – probably had learned it as a survival skill – but for him she put it all out there.
“I—uh—guess this is it,” she announced as she got to the check of her carry on luggage.
“I guess.”
“I should be back in a couple of weeks – gonna put me up?”
“In style, baby.”
“I know I should be out here a couple of weeks...but I don’t know what to do weekends. I made a vow that weekends belong to Chelsea. I lost weekends with her in Chicago...”
“I’ll fly you home Friday afternoon and bring you back Sundays if I need to. It’s a lot of flying for you; but if you want to be home weekends and here during the week, I’ll do it.”
“You? This is Breton and de Carlo’s problem.”
“Wrong. It’s de Carlo and Chasez’s problem. Chasez can afford it – and is more than willing to foot the bill to have de Carlo in his arms at night.”
“You also save us a fortune in hotel and restaurant expenses,” she quipped teasingly.
“Use me!” he laughed. “It has its compensations!”
“Kyle would say you’re good for the bottom line.”
“As long as I am good for you.”
Her smile was soft and womanly, making him want to snatch her up, take her home and make love to her for hours. Now, he had weeks to wait...
Putting her hand on his jaw, she felt the half-day growth of beard beneath her hand. The sand papery texture reminded her of other places had been scraped by the five o’clock shadow that actually grew in closer to two. The prickly friction was not enough to deny access of his beautiful mouth to places it wanted to go...
“Baby, this is hard,” JC told her as he turned his face to nuzzle her palm. “Now that I know how great it is for you to be in my house, my bed....we gotta get this settled.”
“We can’t right now, Josh. I don’t know how.”
“Marry me and things will have to fall into place,” he suggested.
“Josh,” she scolded. “You know it doesn’t work that way.”
He nodded and pressed his lips lingeringly to her palm, his eyes never leaving hers.
“I love you so much, Josh...” Her whisper was full of wonder.
“I love you, Kris.” Sliding a hand beneath her hair, he cupped the back of her neck to bring her to his kiss. Caressing, nibbling, he let his lips savor her taste memorizing it for the lonely days ahead. When he lifted his head, they were both dazed.
“I—uh—I have to check in,” she finally murmured.
“Call me when you get home,” he told her as she pulled away.
“It’ll be late...”
He shook his head. Sleep would be long in coming tonight. “Call me,” he repeated.
“All right. Bye.”
“Have a good trip.”
JC watched as Kristin went through the carry on baggage inspection. He kept his eyes on her as long as he could. When she turned to give him a smile and wave before she disappeared, he responded in kind. Then she blew him a light-hearted kiss – which he pretended to reach out and catch. He could almost hear her sweet giggle at his action. Then she was gone.
At least this time, he had a time line for his loneliness. She would be back – and he had to find a way to make her stay.
Kyle studied her partner’s face, not being able to concentrate on Kristin’s carefully thought out proposal. Kristin hadn’t said much in the way of personal chit-chat – which in itself wasn’t all unusual – except when Kristin had returned another huge bouquet of roses had arrived. Kristin had a personal life!
“Wanna tell me about it?” Kyle asked nonchalantly.
“About what?” Kristin asked as she reviewed notes on her laptop, not looking up.
“About Orlando and lover boy.”
Kristin frowned. Number one – she disliked JC being referred to as lover boy. Number two – she had yet to decide exactly what happened. Number three – she wasn’t used to sharing her life details.
“Not good?”
“I like the Orlando area. They are starved for IT’s. We could do well there.”
“Kris, I am asking about when you left the office.”
“Josh and I made and ate dinner...”
“Kris!” Kyle cried in frustration.
“Somehow, along the way, I got engaged.”
“What!” This did startle Kyle. Kristin was the one who was methodical and always thought things through. Kyle had been the mercurial one. This whole thing with this popstar was totally unlike her partner.
“It–it scares me how much I want him in my life. I didn’t know it could be like this.”
“It’s been a long time since you’ve let anybody in, Kris. He must be something special.”
“He is...”
“But?”
“He is so young...”
“You aren’t exactly ancient.”
“I have a teenaged daughter...I have a company...I–I have a life. He doesn’t fit anywhere...
“In your heart..in your bed...”
The receptionist buzzed. “Mr. Chasez on line three.”
“Thank you, Gloria.” Kristin picked up the receiver. “Hello.”
“Hey, boss lady.” The smile could be heard in his voice.
“You know that isn’t very flattering.”
“Sure it is. I say it with the utmost affection, Kris.”
“Makes me sound like a dominatrix or something.”
Kyle eyed her in surprise.
JC laughed. “How’s my baby?”
“I am telling my partner about the trip.”
“You aren’t subtle. Want me off the line?”
“I don’t do subtle.”
“Don’t I know it. I love it about you.”
“Nice to know.”
“I’ll let you go, Kris. Just wanted to hear your voice. Have a good day...see you soon.”
“Thank you, Josh.”
“Love you, baby.” With that JC rung off.
Replacing the receiver, Kristin stared at the phone dumbfounded. He had called just to hear her voice?
“Have too much free time on his hands?” Kyle asked, amused.
“I guess...”
“Dominatrix?”
“He calls me ‘boss lady’ – for obvious reasons.”
“My advice is to enjoy the ride. You two enjoy each other in and out of bed. The age difference isn’t a real issue. He doesn’t seem to resent our work or your daughter. I could think of worse relationships.”
Kristin shrugged. “It’s just ... so not like me.”
“Maybe you need to take a cue from your popstar boyfriend and go with the flow.”