Getting Around It

It wasn’t easy having James as his bodyguard and not his lover. Gone were the mornings they lingered in bed, making love, talking, feeding each other breakfast. Gone were the lazy afternoons they spent just enjoying each other’s company. Gone were the intimate dinners followed by making love for hours. The hell of it was James was right there, but she might as well been on the other side of the world as untouchable as she was.

Only at night, while she slept, did her mask slip. In his bed, lost in slumber, James sought him. Snuggling against him, her head on his shoulder, her face pressed against his neck, she found rest and peace. He’d hold her in those late hours until the arms of Morpheus pulled him down. In the morning, she was gone from the bed and from his embrace.

James playing as his girlfriend had some wicked compensations – and JC made full and blatant use of them. Since girlfriends were to be held and kissed, he didn’t miss an opportunity. Her hand was in his, unless his arm was around her. Well aware what his warm breath in her ear did to her, making her hot and melty, he often whispered to her if only to irritate her. The tightening of her jaw indicated the ploy worked. Stealing kisses was his favorite taunt. As the woman who was supposed to adore him, she couldn’t very well pull away. And if he carried the game on long enough, she succumbed. Soft kisses, sweeping his tongue along the lower lip until she opened for him. She’d give a little moan, part her lips, and bury her hands in his hair. She was his for the taking – if only for the moment.

Then they were back at the hotel and the ‘off limits’ sign went up like glaring neon.

“Why do you do that?” James huffed after one particular scorching kiss in a radio station hallway.

JC’s grin was impish. “Because I can.”

“Chasez...”

“Don’t want the stalker to think we’ve cooled for each other, do we?”

“No...”

“If I stop kissing you, she’ll have to wonder.”

He was right on that one. “You don’t have to play tonsil hockey every time.”

“Sure I do. That’s what makes it fun for me.”

“You are just so damned lucky we have rules against punching out clients,” she muttered.

He grabbed her in the crook of his arm, pulling her tightly against his side. “No rule says you have to enjoy it, baby,” he reminded her in a whisper, his lips on her ear.

“Then again, I might just ignore the damned rule,” she announced under her breath.

JC laughed at her, giving her another quick kiss.

“He’s infuriatingly smug.” James complained to Kevin as she stretched across his bed. JC was taking a ‘nap’ in their suite and she could get away from him for a while. “I’m ready to snap him in half.”

“Why? Because he has you where he wants you – and takes full advantage of it? I sure as hell would,” Kevin announced with a grin.

“Thanks for the support, partner.”

“James, you made the man go cold turkey after months of being his lover. He was clearly wild about you – still is. He’s smarting, too. So, he gets his jollies catching you when you can’t protest. It isn’t as if you had ever objected before now.”

“Men!”

“I know what it’s like to lose you, James,” Kevin reminded her quietly. “I know how much it hurts.”

“I am so sorry, Kevin...” James left the room and went to where JC lay.

He looked so sweet, almost innocent in slumber. His children would be just as beautiful.

“I don’t want to care so much,” she whispered as she lay beside him.

JC rolled over in his sleep and trapped her with an arm across her waist and a leg flung over hers. If he was awake, she would have to move away, but since he slept on.... James allowed herself to relax and eventually fell asleep, her face turned to his.

Certain she was truly under, JC opened his eyes, just to gaze at her hungrily. “Baby, just quit fighting me,” he told her quietly.

JC woke as he normally did when James curled up against him in her sleep. This was the time he could hold her and love her without her frosty mask. Tonight something was different. She wasn’t snuggling – she was rubbing herself against him like a love-starved cat in heat. Unwilling to resist, he turned to face her, stroking her hair, her back, her arms.

“Mmm...Joshua,” she purred. “Love me.”

Oh, God! There was nothing he wanted more! But, damn, she wasn’t even awake!

Her mouth sought his in a kiss that nearly incinerated him – and he became a full participant. She nipped at his throat and ran her hands under his shirt – and his body was on full alert.

“Too many clothes,” she mumbled.

Oh, yeah, way too many clothes and one unconscious seductress! To hell with honor! “Baby,” he whispered in her ear the way she liked him to do it.

“Makes me horny...”

“I know.” He slipped a hand beneath her shirt to caress her silky skin.

James moved hard against him. Lifting a leg over his, wrapping it tightly around him, she rubbed herself against JC’s hard, eager manhood.

JC bit back a groan of pleasure as she humped him. It would be perfect if they didn’t have his pants and her underwear between them, if he could be thrusting inside her, if she was awake. This was as close to perfect as he was going to get for a while, so he planned on enjoying it to the fullest. With that, he started pumping in rhythm with her hips.

“Oh, Josh!...Oh, yes, please!”

JC put a hand on her back to push her harder still against him.

“Josh!”

He felt the shudder of her climax as he exploded in his pajama pants. “James,” he murmured, nuzzling her hair. She melted against him as he soothed her with gentle touches and soft kisses. “My baby girl.”

James’ sweet sigh of contentment proved she slept on. She must of just had some great sex in her dream!

James woke before JC the next morning. She noticed two things giving her pause: one, her panties were very damp; two, JC had different pajama bottoms on than he had gone to bed with. The other ones were crumpled on the floor. Strange...she recalled the wild, hot sex she’d dreamed of having with him – and she was glad he wasn’t awake to see her hungry gaze.

“We’re going out to dinner tonight.” JC announced to James as they settled into their Las Vegas hotel suite.

“We are?”

“Yes, we are. Dinner. Show. The works.”

She sighed irritably. He did this spur of the moment crap to keep her off balance. Didn’t he realize that it was in his best interest, for safety’s sake, that she not be thrown off her stride?

“Maybe we’ll go to a club.”

“Joshua...”

“James, I want to cut loose a little.”

She supposed she understood the need. “Do I have anything appropriate to wear?”

He grinned. “That leather scrap you wore our first night works for me.”

“I could cheerfully hit you.”

Waggling a scolding finger at her, he reminded her, “Can’t punch clients.”

“When this case is over, I am going to put your lights out, Chasez,” she warned.

“Anyway, I am taking you down to the boutique. We’ll get you something ‘appropriate’.”

“You are not.”

“Am too.”

“Joshua...”

“James, quit being pig headed.”

“Me? I’m not the one—”

“Jesus, listen to you!” Kevin barked as he entered from the spare bedroom. “You squabble like a married couple.”

“If we were a married couple, she wouldn’t bitch about me wanting to buy her clothes,” JC pointed out.

“No, you’d probably bitch about buying her clothes.” Kevin looked to James. “He might as well pay up front. Clothes to wear for a specific event a client attends, goes on the expense account.”

“But—” James protested.

JC grinned at her. “If you don’t come, I’ll buy something you’ll hate.”

“Grr...” James growled at him.

He grabbed her hand. “C’mon, baby!”

James was pleasantly surprised. For a man who generally displayed less than good fashion taste himself, JC seemed to put quite a bit of careful thought before he presented his choices.

“I’d love to see this on you.” JC held up a short, strapless sheath in white silk.

“I don’t do sleeveless anymore,” she told him. “Let alone strapless.”

“Why?...” Then he remembered how touchy she was about her newly acquired scars. Lifting the sleeve of her tee shirt to reveal the still healing bullet wounds, he brushed his mouth to the one on the front of her upper arm. “I’m sorry she hurt you, baby.”

His gentleness was always more effective in swaying her than his bully tactics. Unable to resist, James nuzzled his freshly shampooed curls. “Not your fault, Joshua.”

“This dress is so my Lady J – beautiful, sexy, understated elegance.”

“It is lovely.”

“James, I don’t care about the scars. They tell people you’re strong and brave.”

“I care.” She went to a display of scarves. She selected one white-on-white one that complimented the dress. If she tied this above the scars she could cover them without irritating the tender flesh. “Maybe I’ll start a fashion trend.”

Before they left the small store, JC managed to go overboard. She needed this, right? And that...and that. James found it useless to protest. She realized part of it was guilt on his part, but most of it was his natural generosity for people he cared about. He would give her his endearing little boy look and she caved.

Something had shifted in James’ attitude, JC noted, if only for that evening. While she prepared for their ‘date,’ she didn’t close the bathroom door. They chatted back and forth between the bedroom and master bath as he dressed and she did her hair. Did she realize how tempting she was standing there in her strapless bra, thong, and strappy heels? It was almost as if she were intentionally trying to make him lose it!

“I was sorta hoping you’d leave your hair down,” JC told her as he stood behind her in front of the wide bathroom mirror. “I like how it falls over your shoulders.”

James poked her tongue out at him in their reflections. “I was trying for sophisticated.”

“I like the just-tumbled-out-of-bed look.”

With a dramatic sigh, she pulled out the few pins from her up-swept hair until it fell and shook her head. It was a touchable mass of black silk. “More like this?”

“Oh, yeah...” His mouth skated along one bare shoulder. “James, what do I have to do to have you in my bed tonight? I mean really have you with me? Sharing ourselves like we used to do?”

Turning her head, she met his lips in a brief, hot kiss. “Seduce me,” she whispered.

JC was clearly surprised. “Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“You mean romance you, touch you where I know you like to be touched, and ply you with champagne?” he demanded softly.

“Forget the champagne.”

His hands skimmed down her arms. One arm came around her waist, the other hand slipped by the center panel of her thong.

“No way, you,” she protested. “I am not gonna walk around with damp panties, because you like to play with me.”

“I got the cure for that.” He turned her, then lifted her to the edge of the vanity. Stripping away the thong, he knelt with his head between her soft thighs. With no teasing licks, he headed right for her hot center.

“Oh, God!” James squealed at his assault.

Quickly, JC’s mouth gave her the passionate relief she sought – and lapped up the last vestige of her love cream. Rising to his feet once more, he grinned at her love-dazed expression.

“You are sinful, Mr. Chasez,” she complained breathlessly.

“Glad to be of service, Miss Deerfield.”

James’ eyes dropped to his obvious dilemma. His zipper was ready to split. “I want that,” she stated huskily.

“I’m okay, baby,” he lied.

She snorted in disbelief and unbuckled his belt. With no help from him, she had his pants pushed to his knees. He didn’t protest, but he refused to assist her in this goal. “Looks mighty fine.” She licked her lips in anticipation. “Come here, baby. I’ll be gentle.” With her heels at his back, she nudged him to her. Nipping at his lips, she whispered, “What’s the matter, Joshua?”

“I wanted to make love in our bed tonight.”

“Oh, Joshua, you have all evening to seduce me,” she chided him gently. “This is just the pre-game warm-up.”

“James?” He was incredulous.

“I plan on exhausting you until superstar won’t rise for weeks.

He laughed. “You can try.” With one hard thrust, he was fully seated deep within her clenching walls. If he never moved, she’d milk him dry, squeezing him with those inner muscles in that way she’d perfected. “I might remind you that has never worked before.”

Her smile was supremely wicked. “I’ll just have to try harder.” She pulled his head down so their mouths could mate, tangling her tongue with his as he pounded into her. He was huge and hungry and in a wild hurry. So was she. A moment later, they were crashing together on the beachhead of torrid bliss.

It was almost like the beginning of their relationship, JC marveled as he and James enjoyed the evening as a couple. They snuggled together in the booth where they ate dinner, feeding each other off their plates. There was no protesting when he kissed her or touched her. When they danced, she let him press her close and sway to the music. Later, at a club, they were grinding into each other – like the full contact sport it had always been.

And when they returned to their hotel...oh, God!

In the elevator, he was so ready to have her up against the wall. She laughed and told him to wait. When the doors slid open, she removed her scarf and looped it around his neck, leading him gently to their door.

“We have to be quiet,” she whispered as she closed the door to their bedroom. “We don’t want to wake Kevin.”

JC was all for that, not wanting the cowboy barging in on them.

James stripped him and made love to him with her sweet, hot mouth.

He returned the gift two fold.

They made passionate, wild love – each taking turns in leading the game. In the middle of the night, James suggested a shower, to which JC readily agreed. An hour later, their bodies were once again so slick with sweat, they could have used another shower. Laughingly, James declared it ‘useless’ and jumped on him once again.

It was a night spent in a hot, panting haven of pleasure meant for two – and JC never wanted it to end.

In the morning, he woke alone – with a hard-on giving serious doubt to her theory of exhausting the ‘superstar.’ Tossing on a robe, he went in search of James. She was nibbling toast while glaring at her laptop at the bar in the living room.

“Mornin’, baby.” His arms went around her as he buried his face in her hair.

“Knock it off, Chasez,” she growled.

“Bad mood? I got the cure,” he told her amicably.

“Doubt it. Let go of me.”

“James?...”

She swiveled on her stool. “You asked for one night,” she reminded him coolly. “You got it. It’s over. Be grateful for the favor.”

“What?” he bellowed.

“It’s called ‘pity sex’.”

“The fuck it was!” he protested.

“No, fuck was all it was.” She closed the laptop and pushed passed him. “Shower and get dressed. You have some place to be in two hours.”

JC swung away and stomped to the bedroom. Pain burned through him. How could she just turn it off and on like that? Giving into the childish urge, he ripped the bedding from the bed. What flowed in the veins of a woman like that? Water. Sometimes ice? Sometimes steam?

The shower hid the sound of his tears of frustration and agony.

His James was gone.