When she'd said those words to him earlier, before leading him out onto the dance floor, Chris had been certain he was hearing things.  He hadn't expected it to mean as much as it did to hear those words from her, but it had.  He had wanted to hear her say them again all evening--hoping to convince himself she had really uttered them--but the loud music and crowd of people around them at the club had prevented any more intimate moments between them.

Until now.

Kristen had followed him out of the club almost an hour ago, more than a little bit drunk, and he had taken her home.  Much like the first time he had done so, Kristen had kissed him on her doorstep and now here they were-tongues and limbs tangled as pieces of clothing were subsequently being removed. 

"I love..." Kristen trailed off, another moan escaping as she moved beneath him.  Her lips pulled at his ear.  Chris pulled back slightly to look down at her.  He rested his weight on his forearms as he waited for her to finish that statement-anticipation filling him.

"Mmm..." she hummed as she wiggled slightly and Chris closed his eyes--chewing on his bottom lip as he hung his head slightly--a sweet mixture of pleasure and pain filling him.  If she doesn't stop moving I'm going to--

"I love..." she trailed off again, her words cutting off his thoughts.  Her hands slid up his chest and around his neck.  Once again she sucked his ear into her mouth.  He felt her left leg hitch over his hip and he groaned as that movement brought them even closer together.  He opened his eyes and looked down at her once more.  Slowly her eyes opened as she looked up at him coyly through her lashes--mischief sparkling in the chocolate depths.  Devilish little minx.  He thought as he brushed his fingertips over her cheekbones.  She knows exactly what she does to me...

"I love..."

"I would love it if you would finish that statement." He finally replied, his frustration apparent in the clipped tone of his words.  Kristen giggled. 

"I love...these boots!" She exclaimed as she lifted her left leg straight up in the air--her head moving slightly to admire her footwear.   

Chris groaned as he slumped against her-his head coming to rest on her shoulder.  "I hate you." He muttered under his breath.  "You and your damn boots!"

Kristen laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the side of his head.  "No you don't." She replied confidently.  "You love me.  You said so yourself and once you say it, you can't take it back."

Chris lifted his head, his eyes meeting hers.  "Is that right?" He asked.

"Mmm-hmm." Kristen hummed as she nodded.  Her eyes moved up slightly as she combed her fingers through his hair.  Chris fought the desire to close his eyes and give in to her touch.

"So..." He drawled and her eyes flicked back to his.  "When you said the same thing to me earlier..." he trailed off, the question hanging between them.  Her smiled faded slowly as the tension between them thickened.  "You can't take it back." He said quietly, echoing her words as a reminder.  He watched as her tongue flicked out, wetting her bottom lip, and noticed the way her breathing had picked up.  "Say it again." He coaxed as he bent his head, his lips brushing against hers softly--his eyes never leaving hers.

"I love you." She told him, her words escaping with a soft sigh--her warm breath fanning across his lips.  The short distance between them disappeared as he captured her mouth.  Kristen moved beneath him--her hands pushing against his chest-and Chris soon found himself with his back against the mattress as she straddled him.  The seal of their lips never broke.  He smoothed his hands up and over her legs and hips then up her back until he wound his fingers through her thick curls, keeping her pressed against him--their tongues dancing together.  He could taste the alcohol she had consumed and that, combined with the flavor that was all her own, soon had his head spinning in a cloudy fog.

She finally pulled back.  Chris opened his eyes.  He looked at her as she sat up--both of them struggling for breath.  His hands fell down to grip her hips as she crossed her arms in front of her and pulled the green halter top up and over her head.  His fingers itched to reach up and remove her bra, but he groaned instead as she shimmied her way down his legs a bit and slipped her hands beneath the hem of his T-shirt.  Their eyes remained lock as she slid the material upwards--her fingertips grazing his skin and raising goosebumps--as she uncovered his chest. 

Once his shirt was removed, and she had tossed it off the side of the bed, Kristen placed her warm mouth against his.  Their lips met in the perfect way he had become addicted to over the last month and he wondered how he had gone so long without feeling this kind of connection with another person.  It had been years since he had given in to his emotions so completely--had given up all sense of control and had thrown caution to the wind--and he suddenly couldn't remember why he'd decided he didn't want to bother with relationships anymore.  He had forgotten what it felt like to be with someone who loved you--who accepted who you were and wanted to be with you.  He had become so focused over the years on all the negative aspects of being in a relationship that he had forgotten all the good that came.

Kristen's lips left his a moment later and he frowned slightly in disappointment, until she began moving down his body-her mouth burning a trail down his neck and throat and over his chest.  His hands came up, his fingers once more tangling in her hair, as she continued to render him completely helpless to her whims.  He wondered if she knew the amount of power she had over him.  For a man who had once prided himself over the fact that he didn't need to be in a relationship to be happy...he was pretty damn happy at the moment.  Kristen moved up, her lips connecting with his again.  Chris rolled them again--pressing her back against the mattress.  He pulled back and looked down at her.  Her eyes slowly opened and he found himself completely hypnotized by her. 

A fact that didn't scare him like it used to.

"Have I ever told you how much I love your tattoos?" Kristen asked, interrupting his thoughts.  He chuckled as he leaned back, propping himself up on his elbow. 

"No." Chris shook his head.

"Well, I do." She replied.  She ran her fingers over the arm that he had draped across her stomach, tracing the design of the Celtic cross he had tattooed there.  "They've always been my weakness." She confessed.

"My tattoos?" He questioned teasingly.  "They've always been your weakness?" 

"Yes." She nodded.  He looked at her in question and she laughed.  "I mean..." she shook her head.  "Not yours specifically-although I love yours and I think you're incredibly sexy--but tattoos in general." She clarified.  He shivered slightly as her fingers kept brushing over his arms and she grinned when she saw his reaction.

"Yet, you don't have any." He pointed out--his eyes roaming over her body that now laid spread out before him.  His lips lifted slightly as he imagined her getting a tattoo.  Talk about sexy.  He thought.  His hand gripped her waist as he tugged her closer to him.

"No." She shook her head.  "I don't think I could actually get one, but I always seem to find myself attracted to guys who have them."  Chris' brows furrowed in question as he thought about what she'd just said.  "What's that look for?" Kristen asked as she reached up--smoothing away the crease between his eyes with her fingers.  "I thought you'd like it that I found your tattoos sexy." She teased, trying to make him smile.

"No, it's not that." He shook his head.  "I just..." He trailed off--hesitant to voice the thought he'd had.  He didn't want to ruin the moment between them.  "You say you like guys with tattoos but..."

"But?" Kristen asked, looking at him expectantly.

He was quiet for a moment, debating.  "Kevin..." He began. 

"Kevin isn't the tattoo type, right?" She asked, cutting in and guessing his thoughts. 

He nodded.    "I know it's...it's not really my business, but..." He trailed off again.

She sighed heavily.  "But why did I marry him?" She asked--again guessing his thoughts.  Chris nodded again.  The silence stretched between them as they looked at each other.

"When he was here the other night," Chris said, breaking the silence.  "The way he treated you--the things he said to you--I just don't understand.  Why?" He asked, lifting his hand to brush the back of his fingers across her cheek.  "Why did you...why were you..."

"Why was I stupid enough to be with him?" She asked.

"I didn't say you were stupid." Chris countered.  "You know what?"  He shook his head.  "Forget I asked.  Like I said, it's none of my business and I--"

"It's okay." She assured him.  She put her hand on his face as she looked up at him.  "It's, uh...it's no more than I've wondered and asked myself over the last six months."  She looked at him for a moment and he could almost see the thoughts tumbling around in her head.  "He, uh..." she shrugged and broke eye contact with him.  "He was different...when we first met.  He...he was different than most of the guys I went out with and was attracted to.  I, uhm...I thought I loved him but, uh...the more..." she cleared her throat and shifted slightly in embarrassment.  "I look back on everything now--now that I know who he is and that he was lying to me the whole time-and I wonder...how could I have been so blind?  You know...I'm an intelligent human being.  I talk and interact with people all day.  I used to think I was good at reading people but now..." she shook her head and closed her eyes in self-recrimination. 

"I shouldn't have...brought it up." He told her as he put his fingers beneath her chin.  She opened her eyes and looked at him.  "We all have our pasts and God knows I've made more than my fair share of mistakes.  I just..."  He leaned down and kissed her deeply.  "Kristen." He sighed, resting his forehead against hers.  "When he said those things to you.  When he called you a...a..."

"A slut?" She supplied. 

He winced as the word left her mouth.  "You're not a slut." He told her, leaning back just enough to look into her eyes.  "I wanted to kill him."  He admitted.  Kristen looked at him--eyes widening and mouth hanging open slightly.  "I've never been a violent man." He stated.  "But that night...that night I wanted to kill him."

"You would have done that?" She asked.  "Seriously?  You would have killed him?"  He nodded.  "You would have risked going to jail?  For me?"

"Darlin' I'm willing to risk just about anything for you." He confessed.  Kristen's lips turned up slightly. 

"Mmmm....you're a smooth one." She drawled as she lifted her hand and stroked it over his cheek.  "How many girls have you sweet talked into sleeping with you like this?"

Chris was tempted to feel offended, until he saw the teasing sparkle in her beautiful eyes.  He grinned as he moved atop her again.  "Girl..." he growled as he bent his head, devouring her neck.  Kristen giggled as she wound her arms around his neck.  "You're the only one I've ever considered going to jail for." He told her, his lips moving along her jaw.  "And you're the only one I will go to jail for." He stated as his lips found hers.  "I love you."

"Mmmm..." Kristen moaned as he kissed her deeply.  "I love you." She replied.

"Enough to go to jail for me?" He asked as he continued kissing her. 

"Mmm-hmm." She hummed.

"Show me." He demanded.

"Take off these boots of mine and I will." She promised. 

Chris laughed as he kissed her once more.  "Think you can bear being separated from them?" He teased.  "I know how much you love them."

"It's going to be difficult." She agreed with a nod of her head.  "But I think I can handle it." She replied with a smile.  "Let's find out, shall we?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're going down, Short-stack!" Chris exclaimed the next afternoon as he sat on the floor in the Fatone's Family Room.  Kristen chuckled from her spot on the couch as she watched him--his tongue sticking out and a look of intense concentration on his face as his body moved, mimicking the movements of the car he was controlling on the screen.

"I'm in first place!" Ten-year-old Briana stated with a giggle. 

"Not for long." Chris replied.  "Ha-ha!" He laughed.  "Now I'm in first place!" He stuck his tongue out at the child.

"Dang it!" Briana exclaimed a moment later when the race ended.  She tossed her controller aside and laid down on the floor.  "I thought I was going to beat you this time." She told Chris. 

"You were close." He acknowledged with a grin.  "But...not today!  Muahaha!" He laughed evilly.  "I remain the Mario Kart champion!" He put his arms up.  Briana tackled Chris--pushing down as she jumped on top of him.  Chris laughed and Kristen chuckled again as she watched the two of them wrestle and roll around on the floor.  The couch shifted next to her and Kristen smiled as she looked over at Kelly. 

"Aiy, they're at it again!" Kelly rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. 

"Are they always like this?" Kristen asked with a laugh as she turned back to watching her boyfriend rolling around on the floor like a child. 

"Yes." Kelly replied with a laugh as she tucked some hair behind her ears.  "Although this," she gestured with her finger at what was going on in front of them, "is tame.  You should see him when he and the rest of the guys get together."  She snorted. 

"That bad, huh?" Kristen asked.

"Let's just say, when they all get together...it makes me wonder why I ever married Joey." Kelly laughed.  Kristen laughed with her.

"I heard that." Chris piped up.  The girls both turned to look at him.  He rolled over onto his stomach, pushing up on his forearms.  Briana straddled his back.  "And I'm gonna tell Joey you said that."

"He knows." Kelly replied with a sassy lift of one eye brow. 

"Damn!  Foiled again." He remarked. 

"Let's play again!" Briana exclaimed, jumping on Chris.  He groaned as he rolled over.

"You want to be beaten again, Munchkin?" He asked, looking up at the little girl who was smiling down at him. 

"This time I'm going to win." She told him, confidently as she scrambled off of him and grabbed the controller she had tossed aside a few moments ago.

"Team Fatone for the win." Joey said as he came into the room and sat down on the floor in front of the TV.  Briana climbed into her father's lap and handed him the controller. "You're going down Kirkpatrick."

"So..." Kelly drawled.  Kristen turned to look at the other woman as Chris and Briana became preoccupied with their video game again.  "How did you and Chris meet?" She asked, pulling her legs up beneath her. 

"I ran into him." Kristen replied.

"Literally." Chris supplied, over his shoulder though his eyes stayed glued to the screen in front of him-intent on winning again. 

Kristen chuckled as she looked at him and then back at Kelly.  "Literally, like the man says."  Kelly looked at her in question and Kristen filled her in on the first time she and Chris had met.  "Then I went out to a bar with a couple friends for karaoke, Chris was there and...one thing led to another...and here we are."

"Go, daddy!  Go!" Briana cheered her father along as he passed Chris' kart.   

The girls looked over at the three sitting on the floor in front of them.  Kelly smiled as she turned back to Kristen.  "I'm glad you ran into him." She stated. 

"Me, too." Kristen nodded as she turned her eyes back to Chris.  "Me, too."       

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And in celebrity gossip today: the last member of N SYNC may be off the market.  That's right, ladies, Chris Kirkpatrick--the self-proclaimed bachelor of the group--has been spotted around Orlando recently with a new flame.  We would like to be happy for him, but sources reveal that Kristen Miller, the brown-haired beauty who's been keeping the popstar company the last couple weeks, is married.  Yep, you heard me correctly: the lady is married.  We tried reaching Chris for comment but none of our calls were returned which leaves us to wonder: is it true?  Or just an April Fool's joke?  For E! News, I'm Katy Scott..."