Chapter Six: Adjustment
JC didn’t want to leave his dream. Talented, soft hands and velvety, equally talented lips moved down his body, caressing and arousing. As he drifted towards wakefulness, he found the wonderful sensations didn’t stop. Easing his eyelids up, he detected a large lump beneath the sheet between his legs. Even he knew his dick wasn’t that big.
“C?”
“This isn’t a very admirable trait of yours,” a muffled voice announced.
“What isn’t?”
“That you sleep so damn dead to the world I have to get this far before you wake up.”
A low chuckle rumbled through him. “Sorry. I thought I was dreaming.” He lifted the sheet to meet her eyes. “Why don’t you come up here and I’ll make it up to you.”
“As if,” she snorted.
“Okay, I’ll join you then.” He dove beneath the sheet to be face to face with her.
“I was busy,” she informed him tartly.
“Don’t I just know it.” Her ‘preoccupation’ was throbbing and hard. He brushed his lips against hers. “Morning, Christina.”
“Hi.”
“Aw, c’mon, baby, don’t be like that,” he crooned. His mouth closed over hers, coaxing, seducing as he shifted to align their bodies. “Forgive me? You gotta admit what you were doing to me is the stuff dreams are made of.”
Christina released a gusty sigh. “Think you’re pretty slick, don’t you, Chasez?”
He laughed at that. “I have never been accused of being slick.”
She knew how exactly ‘un-slick’ he was with women. “You seem to get around me pretty well.”
JC smiled. “Because you let me.” He knew that if she didn’t love him; a woman like Christina could grind a guy like him into the dirt. She was savvy and much more sophisticated than he was. But since he was in her heart, the traits that had brought men to their knees were tempered by love. Instead of wounding, she protected him.
Giving him a womanly smile, she said, “Just don’t let that get out or I’ll be forced to deal with you.”
“You can so deal with me.” This time when he kissed her she melted against him. “Morning, Christina.”
“Hi.” This time it was a sweet sigh.
“What say we take this top side?”
“I kinda like it down here. Cozy, secretive…”
“If that’s what you want…”
“I want you.”
“I’m yours for the taking,” he told her quietly.
“So says the guy I nearly had to bite his dick off to wake up!” she chided teasingly.
JC laughed. “You are not gonna be serious this morning, are you?”
“I was pretty seriously working at trying to wake you,” she quipped.
He surrendered. She was in her naughty pixie mode and there was no budging her. “Guess I’m just gonna hafta drill you to shut you up,” he announced in mock seriousness.
“Oh, yeah? You and what army?” She challenged
“C, don’t start with me.” He noticed the gleam in her eyes. She was up to no good.
“Whatcha gonna do about it, tough guy?”
“This.”
‘This’ was wrapping his arms around her as he made love to her mouth with his. When her hands moved into his hair and she became an active participant in the kiss, he eased her back. Coming over her, his lips moved across her cheek to find her ear.
“I want to make slow sweet love to you, Christina,” he breathed in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. ‘I want you to hold me in you and let me show you how much I love being a part of you, if only for a short time.”
“Oh, JC…” she whimpered weakly, seduced as much by his words as by his kisses.
“Will you let me do that, baby? Will you let me love you like that?”
“Yes.”
Instead of a gloating smirk, for he’d ‘won’, JC wore a soft smile full of love and gratitude.
“I’m glad.”
In her surrender, they had both won.
Rolling over, JC groaned as sunlight met his eyes. It had been another late night/early morning at the studio. He’d become a creature of the night — which was hard on his love life. Christina was clearly a child of the day. Briefly, he wondered what she was doing at that very moment. He knew she and Lance had been tweaking the script for the movie. All the pre-production was nearly finished. What he wouldn’t give for a cup of her coffee right now…and have her deliver it to him in bed so he could pull her in with him. Even just to hold her for a while…
“Your fault, dude,” he muttered to himself. “You and your fucking perfectionism.”
Tossing back the sheet, he padded into the bathroom. Maybe a long, hot shower would revive him… Maybe he could make a late lunch appointment with Christina and steal some precious time with her…
Christina let herself into JC’s house. She hoped to steal a few hours with him, even if it was to crawl into bed with him while he slept. She missed listening to him breathe, the beat of his heart beneath her cheek, the very smell of him. Who would have believed that of her? The woman who had once considered sex more of a recreational pastime… A vulnerable heart freely offered with no conditions had cured her.
As she neared the master bedroom, she heard the shower. A wicked smile crossed her lips. That worked! She shed her clothes in the bedroom and entered the master bath. Through the translucent glass of the shower stall, she saw a lean male form with his head bowed letting the hot water pummel his skin. He looked solitary and slightly defeated. Well, she would take care of the solitary.
JC was so intent on cleaning his head he didn’t notice he had company. He wasn’t aware of the fact until soft hands covered his eyes.
“Guess who?
“I-um…Michelle Phieffer?” He named one of his favorite actresses.
“Uh-uh. Darker.”
“Naomi Campbell.”
“Shorter — and here’s another hint, get this one wrong, smart boy, and you’ll be an eunuch.”
He laughed and spun around to hold her. “My very own Christina.”
“I think we need to discuss the woman you let into your shower,” she quipped.
JC didn’t take the bait; he simply kissed her, thoroughly and gently. He cradled her in his arms, sheltering her from the hot spray of water.
Her teasing disarmed, she indulged herself in his taste and feel, giving as well as receiving
“Baby, I wished you here,” he murmured against her throat. “Just to hold you.”
“I felt it, too. I was just going to crawl in bed with you, just to be with you while you slept,” Christina confessed.
Lifting his head, he smiled down at her. “We’re so connected, baby; it’s awesome.”
“It is, isn’t it?” She pushed back the wet locks of hair from his beautiful eyes. “I’ve missed you, especially that smile.”
“Christina…” It was a soft, sweet sigh. He was so pleased she was here.
She skimmed her hands up his chest to rest them on the back of his neck. Lifting on her toes, she whispered in his ear, “We’ve never done it in the shower, have we?”
“No.” Her breath sent a shiver through his body that shot to his groin.
“Mmm…I note some interest.”
“Baby, that is just a natural reaction to you being close to me. I told you that first day you don’t have to do something about it every time,” he reminded her.
“What if I want to have some shower fun?” She drank the water from is shoulder to the pulse beat of the hollow of his throat than across his other shoulder. She felt his body quake as she sucked at his nipples.
Groaning, JC fell back against the shower wall. “C, you’re making me crazy.”
“Crazy can be good.” She ran her fingertips over his firm buttocks. As she lifted her head to scrape her teeth lightly down his throat, one hand moved to cup his sac, squeezing gently.
“Damn!” he grunted as her other hand toyed with the throbbing tip of his manhood. “Keep that up and you’ll get my load in your hand,” he growled.
“Oooh, that won’t do!” Christina took one of his hands and placed it between her thighs. With no instruction from her, he tenderly tugged at the downy curls before rubbing one finger along those lips until they readily parted. “Oh, yes, JC…” she panted breathlessly as he slid his finger deep within her.
“You’re so ready for me…” Bending slightly at the knees, he lifted her, letting her legs encircle his waist as he impaled her. Her soft gasp of surprised pleasure was his reward. “All aboard,” he murmured resting his shoulders against the wall.
Christina braced her hands on his shoulders as she moved up and down, creating wonderful friction between their bodies.
“How did I know you’d be good at this?” He mumbled at the quickly approaching rapture.
“Cuz I’m good at everything,” she quipped, gaining a chuckle from him. She whispered just before her mouth took his, “And because I love you.”
He had no time to respond in kind. He wanted to, but she clenched him tight within her as she spiraled out of control. He got to drink in her cry of release before she tasted his. He held her to him as her forehead rested against his. They panted together, trying to catch their breath.
“I love you, too, Christina,” he huffed softly. “So much, baby, all the way in my soul.”
After a long moment, she lifted her head to meet his eyes. “Aren’t I getting heavy?”
“Mmm…no, I’m good.”
“That you are, darling.” Smiling, she smoothed his hair. “But if you leave me up here, hanging off your wanger and I get the urge to kiss you things could happen.”
“Nothing you don’t want, C.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want it. I was keeping you apprised of the consequences.”
“Duly noted.”
“In that case…” She lowered her mouth to his.
When the party moved to the bed, they lay spooned together her back to his front, simply enjoying the nearness of the other. Once in a while one of them would reach for a kiss or would say something but mostly they held each other. It was the rumble of JC’s stomach that broke the mood. Christina giggled.
“Sorry,” JC muttered.
“I take it you didn’t get around to breakfast.”
“No, but I had hopes of meeting you for lunch.”
“Consider me met. Anything in the fridge worth eating?”
“Probably not.”
“Hmm…I feel too good to move…” She snuggled back against him.
“Then don’t. I’ll grab the phone and have something delivered.
“Lunch in bed.”
“Works for me.”
“Me too.”
Her wistful sigh wasn’t lost on him. “What, C?”
“I miss you. I never had someone to miss. I mean you’re just miles away, but I don’t want to break into your flow. I know how demanding a muse can be…”
“Would it be too disruptive if you stayed here? Even if it’s only a couple days a week. We could be together for a couple hours a day…”
“You wouldn’t mind that?” She twisted around to see his face.
“Mind? Baby, I’d love it!” he assured her. “I’ll set up a room for an office so you can work.”
“I actually do my best work in bed.”
JC grinned. “Well, I know that, but…”
The remark gained him a teasing elbow to the ribs. “Smartass. What I meant is I do a lot of work long hand, then I scan and send the written
pages to my typist and they come back legible.”
“Laying in our bed,” he purred against her ear. “Our bed, smelling of sex…you could write a lot of ‘hot’ stuff.”
“Hardly. I don’t write a lot of ‘hot’ stuff.”
He knew her work and even enjoyed her stories. It was awesome to have someone who understood the need to express herself creatively, muse-driven. With Christina, he didn’t have to explain the need to leave the bed at odd hours to get an idea down before it disappeared. He had witnessed the same thing with her. They were a good match.
“You’d better get lunch called in, Chasez. You can’t bear to lose any weight,” Christina announced.
“Would you be mad if I said I’d rather make love to you rather than eat lunch?”
She shook her head. “I’d like that.’
“Christina…how is it you know my heart so well?”
“Because it reads like mine, JC.”
Her laptop moved in first along with ‘stay-at-home’ clothes. Notebooks and pens could be found in any room in the house. The woman he loved was a little clutter bug. JC resisted the urge to move her belongings to one location. If this was how she worked, he didn’t want to disturb her. Christina was doing this for him, for them. No doubt she was used to her own space when she was creative. He didn’t want to stifle her flow.
JC rubbed his gritty eyes then checked his watch. 4:25 am. With a tired sigh, he left his home studio and headed for the bedroom. In a few more hours, Christina would be getting up to start her day. She was his sunny daylight girl — he was a nocturnal animal. Hadn’t somebody made a movie like that? About a spell put on a knight and his lady? He was a wolf at night when she was human. She was a hawk by day when he took human form. JC couldn’t remember what it had taken to break the spell…
Okay, opposites attracted and even fell madly in love, but did they ever see other?
Entering the bedroom, it appeared his roomie had tried to wait up for him. Christina lay asleep among her laptop, assorted notebooks, and a couple of reference books. His heart melted when he noticed it was his pillow she snuggled. Quietly and carefully as possible, he gathered her things and set them on a chair nearby. Shedding his clothes, he changed into his pajamas and climbed onto the bed. He didn’t bother trying to tuck her beneath the covers, he simple spooned his front to her back.
“Jace…” Christina sighed contentedly in her sleep when she felt his presence.
“I’m here, baby.” He assured her quietly.
“Oh…kay…” she turned to crowd against him, her head beneath his chin, and slept on.
For now, they were together, sharing these few hours. Soon Christina would wake and leave his arms, letting him sleep on. He’d wake, they would share lunch and he’d go back to the studio. If the flow was good, he’d work through dinner and she would eat alone. She usually left him a plate with warming instructions in the fridge for when he emerged. She would head to bed after midnight. Sometime after that, JC would come out of the studio, grab a bite if he was hungry and climb into bed with her. Then the cycle started all over again…
This was craziness. How long could he expect them to remain in love if he abused the relationship like this? He didn’t even have the excuse of a tour to neglect her! If he waited to be done with recording, would he even have a relationship? Who was to say Christina wouldn’t tire of seeing her lover just hours a day? When was the last time they made love…Fuck, if he didn’t know, it had been too damn long ago! He was on the verge of screwing up to most important relationship of his life.
JC groaned. How many times had he said in interviews that his music was more important than any woman? Talk about self-involved! He’d matured since then – at least he hoped he had. Christina was more important than this solo project. She had been there before he’d begun it and, God willing, she’d be there when it was history. But that wouldn’t happen if he didn’t let her know he wanted her in his life?
Christina was rudely jostled awake. Blinking, she brought JC’s face into focus. “What’s wrong?”
“I love you,” he declared.
She frowned. For that he’d awaken her from a sound sleep? “Nice to know.”
“ I mean it, C.”
“I didn’t think you lied.”
“I want to prove it.”
“Take out an ad in the paper,” she grumbled and turned over, determined to go back to sleep.
He flipped her over onto her back. “Christina—“
“Chasez, I am seriously ready to knee you if you don’t let me sleep,” she threatened.
His eyes sparkled, her grousing clearly not deterring him from his purpose. “I’ve been an idiot.”
“Past tense? You woke me up, you idiot.”
“I need to talk to you.”
Glancing at the clock, she growled. “It is fucking five in the morning. It couldn’t wait?”
“No.”
“JC, in case you hadn’t noticed, I am not in the mood for this.”
He smoothed her hair and kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry I’ve been so blind these past weeks, Christina. You’ve been so great about it all while I’ve been making it all about me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been neglecting you.”
Okay, so he picked a crappy hour to get a case of the guilties…Christina pressed her fingertips to his lips. “I told you I understood, baby. I know it isn’t forever.”
“You should’ve busted me. You deserve better.”
“Thank you for the acknowledgement.”
“Can you get away for a few days right now?”
“I suppose…aren’t you in the middle of recording?”
“Yeah, but I’m taking a break to be with you.”
“That is darling of you, but you don’t need—“
“I do need to, C. I don’t want to lose you.”
“Lose me? What sort of mental leaps have you been taking? I love you, JC. And I know we both have demanding careers. I’m not some girl who expects constant attention.”
“No, but you expect some attention. You haven’t been getting any.”
Now, more fully awake and her humor restored, the imp came out in Christina. “Ah…this is what it’s about! You’re absolutely right. I haven’t been getting any.” She reached down to rub him intimately.
“Mmm…yeah,” he moaned, “that, too.”
“I have considered sneaking in here while you’re asleep to molest you.”
JC lowered his face to kiss her neck. “Molest away, baby.”
“You sleep like the dead,” she reminded him. “And sex is better for me with a live partner.”
“How’s this for lively?” Sitting back on his heels, he whipped off his shirt and shoved his pants down.
“Not fully loaded yet.” To his surprise, she leaned forward to nuzzle his crotch. Soft licks on his sac and manhood had him ‘fully loaded’ in no time.
“I’m supposed to be making you feel good,’ he pointed out when her pleasuring of him continued.
“You are. I like this.”
He groaned when her lips closed over the head of his shaft and sucked. Tenderly, he disengaged her mouth and urged her to her knees. “I’m not letting you be the unselfish one this time, baby. I’ve been selfish enough.”
“JC—“ she protested.
“Nope.” Easily ridding her of her shirt, he brought her against him for a long leisurely kiss. One hand wandered over her, caressing as it went. Unerringly his fingers slipped beneath the waistband of her panties and found her. Her sweet gasp of surprise was caught on his tongue. He continued the intimate touch until she cried out in fulfillment. “I love you, Christina. Don’t ever let me be selfish and unappreciative. You’re my world.”
Her eyes were misty as she met his tired, sincere gaze. “And you’re mine. Where are we gonna on our break?”
.