Chapter Five: Now Lovers
Now the floodgates had been opened, JC found his desire for Christina to be insatiable. He didn’t want to stop touching or kissing her — and he had a chronic hard-on. It was more than just his extended drought. It was Christina — and if his past girlfriends were any indication, she wasn’t even his type! But she was oh-so what he wanted; what he needed; what he craved.
He frowned at the other pillow, which was now cooled and empty. She must have escaped the bed when he’d dozed off. Had she taken off? Was she sorry she had given in to the heat of the moment? Oh, God, he couldn’t lose Christina!
“Chasez, get your fine ass out of bed!” He heard shouted up the stairs.
Christina!
She knew JC tended to sleep like the dead, but she was starving for food. It was nearly eleven and since she had skipped dinner last night… “JC!”
Christina laughed when he came stumbling out the bedroom, struggling to pull on a pair of jeans over his erection. “Geeze…is that like a 24/7 thing?” she mused.
JC gave her a sheepish grin as he zipped his pants. “You bellowed, C?”
“I’m hungry — for food. I am going to fix an omelet for myself. Want one?”
“That‘d be great.” He came down the stairs, eyeing her attire. All she wore was one of his tee shirts if he didn’t miss his guess. Since she was short, it skimmed the tops of her thighs like a mini skirt. No panties? She was…
Christina noted the swell at the front of his jeans grow as he looked at her. “Horndog,” she muttered as she abruptly turned and headed toward the kitchen.
He stopped to tug on the wife beater in his hands before he followed. He found her at the stove heating up the omelet pan. The eggs were already mixed in a bowl. Green pepper, mushrooms and ham had been diced. Christina was a fantastic cook and found a guy whose idea of a home cooked meal was Hot Pockets comical. He’d just never got around to learning his way around a kitchen.
“C, can I ask you something?” JC asked as he stood behind her.
“Sure.”
He wanted to put his hands on her, to press against her, feel her warmth… “I don’t know quite how to say it…”
“Just ask, Jace.”
“Will it bother you that I-um-am aroused around you?”
“I have a counter question. Am I supposed to do something about it every time?”
“Hell no! We’d be like fucking rabbits and never do anything else.”
She chuckled. “Then no, as long as you don’t expect me to climb aboard every time. I don’t mind your-um-arousal,” she mimicked his words with amusement.
“And—“
“I thought you only had one ‘something’ to ask.” She poured the egg mixture into the pan and watched it bubble.
“Actually, it’s a two parter.”
“Okay. Second part.”
He put his hands on her shoulders pressed his face against the back of her head. “I need to touch you. I want to kiss you, hold you, and have you against me. Is that going to be a problem?”
She was ready to melt into a puddle on the floor. “No,” she said softly. “In private, I’d like that.”
“Thank you, baby.” He moved against her, reveling in her soft curves.
Christina was very near to declaring breakfast off when he molded his lean body against her backside. She could feel him hard and hot against her rump. His hands skimmed down her sides to rest at her waist. He was difficult to resist. What woman wouldn’t want this sort of attention? She tipped her head to one side to allow his mouth better access to the side of neck. “You want your breakfast to burn?”
“Only if you do, “he sighed against her skin.
“I would if it hadn’t been nearly 24 hours since I ate last.”
“Mmm…” he hummed against the sensitive cord of her neck. “What are your plans for the day?”
“I-uh-you.”
”Me?”
“Yeah, being with you. Is that okay?”
“Oh, yeah, it’s more than okay.”
“Then…food first…bedroom second…”
“I like a woman with a plan.”
After breakfast, Christina rummaged through JC’s bureau to find an outfit to wear after her shower. She found pair of cut off sweat pants that were now shorts and a tank top that had been cropped as well. These would do. She then headed to the bathroom where JC kept a supply of her toiletries and toothbrush.
JC was disappointed; he’d hoped they could shower together. Then again, she was small and they’d made love several times. Maybe she was sore…He wanted her so much. Now he’d tasted paradise with Christina, he wanted to stay.
He stood under the hot shower spray, his eyes closed…just thinking of what he’d experienced with his friend/lover. She was so open and giving…She was teasing and so his C…Love making had never felt so right, so complete. And after the big boom, she held him, sensing his need. Who would have thought a bold woman like Christina Chandler would be so tender at his moment of weakness?
How many times had they declared each other ‘not my type’? How wrong they’d been! He’d been looking at the outward package and so had she. He didn’t like short hair on women. She didn’t like younger men; she liked them older. That was a mistake he’d never make again!
JC was anal retentive when it came to neatness, Christina was reminded when she came back to his room to find the bed made. That was just plain wrong! The bed smelled like sweat and sex — and they were only gonna rip back the comforter to do it again! What a waste of effort. Jumping on the bed, she pulled a pillow out and snuggled her face into it. If JC ran true to form, he’d be in the bathroom another thirty minutes…
Stepping out of the bathroom, JC spotted Christina asleep in the middle of his bed. A soft smile lit his face; she looked like a little girl curled up asleep on her parents’ bed. Adding to the picture was her in his clothes. She looked adorable — like her children might look — like his children with her…Whoa! He had to slow down. That was a mighty big leap! They had just become lovers! Grabbing a pair of loose shorts, he pulled them on and crawled onto bed with her. He lay beside her, took her hand. He brought her fingertips to his lips and kissed each one.
“Hey, Jace.” Christina’s eyes blinked open.
“Still jet-lagged, C?”
She gave him a sleepy smile. “No, I think it has more to do with the nocturnal activities of last night”
“Does that mean I should let you nap?”
Lifting her other hand to his hair, she combed through his damp curls. “Not necessarily.”
“Can we talk about this? What this means — where it can go.”
“I suppose. What does it mean to you, JC?”
He studied her eyes. “That I’ve fallen in love with the most unlikely woman I’ve ever met.” He kissed her palm then laid his cheek against it. “I didn’t even realize that was where my heart was really headed until last night.”
“Are you sorry?”
“Only if you don’t feel the same way.”
“I do feel the same way. It’s a little weird though, having these feelings for you. I didn’t expect it.”
“Are you sorry?” JC asked.
“Only if we can’t stay friends. We have a very special friendship.”
“And that’s what makes our love special. There was no starry-eyes romance first. We know each other in and out. We know each other’s flaws and we’ve learned to cope with our differences.” He kissed her softly. “I think the person you love should be your friend, too.”
“Where can it go?” she asked quietly.
“All the way to the altar, eventually.” At her wide, round eyes, he repeated, “Eventually. I’m talking in the way future. When we’re both there.”
“Wow…”
“Don’t you feel that, too?”
Christina met his eyes and nodded. “Well, yeah, but I never would have said it.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Afraid to jinx us maybe.”
“There’s no jinxing us, C.” His smile was bright and confident.
“C’mere.” Her arms were out to him. When he came to her, he held her, her head tucked beneath his chin. Deliberately she tangled her legs with his. “This is nice.”
“Yes, it is.”
“And the pole between your legs is behaving,” she grinned against his neck.
“Shh…you’ll wake it.’
Pulling her head back, she peered up at him, “Like that would be a bad thing?”
“Well…umm…I thought maybe you were …umm…sore…”
It had been awhile and JC was surprisingly well-endowed… “I’m good, Jace.”
“You mean you want?—“
“I want, hell yeah!” She ran her fingers through his curls. “I’m going to make you so damned secure in me that I’ll never see doubt in your eyes again,” she vowed softly. “I’ll prove you’re the only man for me and every other man in the world will cease to exist.”
JC was touched by her words. They had never really discussed his failure to hold on to a woman, but Christina had known. Somehow, he’d never been enough for other women… “Christina…Wow, baby, thank you. Those are the sweetest words I’ve ever heard.”
“How about ‘I love you’? Or maybe ‘I’m wildly in love with you’?” she asked as her lips moved within a fraction of an inch from his.
“Those are sweet, too.”
“JC?”
”Yeah?”
“Let’s get naughty.”
”Oh, yeah…” His mouth closed the distance and captured hers in a seemingly endless kiss.
After spending most of the day together in bed, JC protested when Christina announced it was time for her to head home. ”You can’t.”
“I can’t?” She raised an eyebrow in his direction as she dressed.
“Well, what I mean is I don’t want you to go.”
“I have a meeting tomorrow morning. I have no clean clothes here and I don’t have the papers I need here. I don’t fancy getting up at five just to go home and then turn around to come back into the city.”
“Baby, I don’t want to sleep without you.” JC rubbed his thumb along the seam of her lips. It was all too new and fresh. He didn’t want this idyllic time to end.
“Then pack a bag and meet me at my house,” she suggested.
“Really?”
Christina frowned at his surprise, “Jace, I’m leaving because I have to, not to escape you. Why not move the party to my place?” She looped her arms around his neck. “Think of the privacy.”
He gave her a bright smile. “Baby, I like the way you think.”
At her house, the couple ate dinner, watched a little television, and then went to bed.
“So what time do you need to leave?” JC asked as Christina set her alarm clock.
“Around eight-thirty, nine o’clock. You can sleep in. As soon as my appointment is done, I’ll be coming home.” She lay back against the pillows. “I’ll stop at the market on the way back. What would you like for dinner?”
He began nibbling her shoulder. “You.”
“Umm…man does not live on love alone, Chasez.”
“I would think you would be more romantic.”
“I am plenty romantic. I am also practical. One of us needs to be,” she taunted, knowing full well, he had a practical streak as well.
He gave her a knowing smile. “Have I told you lately how crazy in love I am with you?”
“Hmm…” She pretended to think. “Not in the last few hours.”
“Christina, I am so crazy, wildly, completely in love with you.”
“Good thing, JC. The feeling is mutually.”
He flicked a glance at the clock. “Got time to get naughty?”
Christina put her hands in his hair and urged his head down for a kiss. “No, but don’t let that stop you.”
He kissed her softly. “C, just holding you while we sleep is enough for me. Yeah, the trouser snake wakes up, but he just likes the feel of you.”
“I like the feel of him.”
JC lay back, tucking her close to his side. “Night, Christina,” he sighed contently.
Snuggling her head on his shoulder, she placed one hand over his heart. “Night, Jace.”
They drifted off to sleep listening to the other breathe and dreamed of all their wonderful tomorrows.
The party Dallas had invited them to was the first place the couple went as – well – as a real couple. Outwardly, not much had changed. They had always been ‘touchy’ friends. Handholding and arms around each other were commonplace. It was when one intercepted the looks between, the new relationship was revealed. JC sought Christina no matter where she was, a radar. And when she found his eyes on her, she returned the gaze with a tenderness not previously present.
“You finally admitted it,” Dallas noted when he got JC alone.
“Huh?”
“I’m not blind and I’m not stupid. I can see how you’re lookin’ at Lady C.”
“Oh…” JC smile slowly. “Yeah, it’s great.”
“It?”
”Loving someone who loves you back, someone who already accepts you exactly the way you are.”
“You already loved her. Dawg, you were pissed off when she saw other men. No one was ever the ‘right’ type for her.”
“Because they weren’t me.”
“Exactly.”
JC’s smile lit with love when he spotted Christina winding her way through the partygoers heading for him. His hand was out to her the moment she was within reach. When she entwined her fingers with his, the wattage of his smile kicked up several notches. “Hey, babe.”
“All I can say is, ‘it’s about fucking time’,” Dallas murmured.
“Excuse me?” Christina chuckled.
“I been telling him he wanted to do you.”
“And he ‘does’ me so well,” she added, much to JC’s chagrin.
“Dude, it wasn’t like that,” JC protested.
“It was precisely like that,” she mused.
“C!”
“I think it’s cute when a grown man blushes,” Christina announced. “Don’t you, Dallas?”
The man held up his hands. “Not even goin’ there.”
JC bent his head to brush a kiss on Christina’s lips. “It wasn’t until we kissed I admitted how much my feelings had changed. I was afraid she wouldn’t feel the same way.” Although the softly-spoken words were directed at Dallas, JC’s eyes stayed on Christina’s.
“It’s love all right.” The friend realized the couple was still in the ‘hypnotized by love’ stage. He didn’t know Christina that well, but he knew JC. When JC fell, he fell hard and he fell deep. “I won’t be offended if you two take of early.”
JC swung his gaze back to Dallas. “Thanks, dawg.”