JC was behind Casey, with her sitting between his open legs on the bed. Most of their clothing had long since been discarded; she wore panties and he was in a pair of boxer-briefs. He held her tightly to him, his hands holding her breasts. Their eyes were focused on the action on the television in front of them. The lights in the hotel room were off and the flickering of the screen created shapes on shadows on their skin.

She almost couldn’t concentrate what with the way his lips roamed her bare shoulder. Her skin was fire and his mouth was a heat-seeking missile. Her eyes slipped closed, head tilting to the side, as his teeth and tongue grazed her earlobe.

Casey-onscreen moaned loud and long, and Casey-on-the-bed grimaced covering her face with her hands. “OK, we have to turn this off, JC.”

His eyes dropped away from the screen to her. He grinned lasciviously and whispered in her ear. “This is my favorite part.” His lips barely grazed her neck before his attention floated back to the screen.

They had recorded themselves finally, after a lot of hemming and hawing exclusively on Casey’s part. JC was nonchalant when, a week prior in a Cincinnati hotel room, he stopped in the middle of a rather heavy makeout session and showed her the brand new camera and tripod. Her eyes widened almost comically as she watched him set it up in a spot that captured every inch of the hotel room bed.

“Just do whatever comes naturally,” he says, grabbing her waist and pulling her up against his body.

He’s grinding his erection into her and, as good as it feels right where she wants him most, Casey’s eyes glance back at the camera.

He puts one hand against the back of her neck and brings her in for a sultry kiss. His tongue is sliding against hers, and then he’s sucking on her bottom lip ever so gently.

She’s moaning and moving against him almost involuntarily.

“Don’t think about the camera, Mama. Don’t even look at it," he whispers.

She stopped thinking about the camera, all right; he and that marvelous tongue of his had made sure of that. And via the action onscreen, she was currently reliving it.

“Having sex while watching ourselves have sex is pretty kinky, JC.”

“We’re not actually having sex yet,” he murmured, eyes still trained on the screen. “But we should fix that.” His mouth, warm and wet, returned to her neck even as his fingers made steady work of rolling and gently pulling her nipples to stiff peaks.

Casey's head fell back against his shoulder; she felt the length of him behind her, the heat of him searing her skin, and an anticipatory surge of wetness between her legs followed. She looked back up at the TV to see that, as far as what was going on onscreen, they were most definitely having sex.

He had gone down on her first, his tongue making velvety strokes over her until she was writhing beneath him and begging him to make her come. And with the addition of two fingers, he had. Until she was gasping for breath, heart racing, vision blurry, toes curled, fingers gripping the sheets beneath her. Before she could properly recuperate from her first climax, he lifted one of her legs over his shoulder and with deliciously deliberate and deep strokes brought her to another one. Her body quivered with the memory.

It was almost lewd, watching herself with him that way, but she couldn’t deny that it was also gratifying, and the more she watched the way their bodies moved together, the more she listened to their sometimes frantic moans and groans of pleasure, the more turned on she was.

Onscreen her whimpers were louder and he was encouraging her to come. Again. Behind her, JC released one of her breasts and slowly walked his fingers down her body. She shivered when he reached the band of her panties and, with no hesitation, slid his fingers down to her heat. She opened her legs more, giving him room, and pushed back against him.  

“Are you watching?” His voice, slightly lower in register than normal, clearly expressed his arousal.  

She trembled against him as goosebumps broke out on her skin. “Mmmhmm.” And she was, with an increasing longing between her legs.

When his finger traced her softly, intimately, she moaned in almost perfect unison with her onscreen counterpart and her eyes closed.

“Keep watching, Mama,” he crooned against her ear.   

Her breathing hitched as he increased the pressure, rubbing firm circles against her. He nipped at her ear and slipped one finger inside her. She gripped his thighs with her hands and rolled her hips against his fingers.

“You’re not watching, Baby.” He moved his finger slowly in and out of her.

Her heart beat faster even as her breathing quickened. Desire coursed through her as her body responded to his touch. She was no longer watching, but she could tell by the sound of her onscreen cries that he’d brought her over the edge again.

“J...C…” With an effort, she opened her eyes. “JC...stop.”

He kissed her neck and did as she asked. “Why?”

“Because…” She panted, heart racing.

His lips moved against her shoulder and neck, insistent and intense, as his fingers crawled back up her body. "Because why?"

Casey pushed away from him and turned around on her knees. Watching him with a small smile, she took off her drenched panties before grabbing the waist of his underwear and dragging them down his body.

He stretched out his legs and lifted his hips to help her. Grabbing her waist, he pulled her to straddle him. “Because why?” he repeated.

His skin tingled deliciously beneath her fingers traveling down his chest. His smile was languid as she leaned over him, touching the tip of his nose with hers. His hands rounded the curve of her hips and around to her butt, kneading the muscles there.

"Because I want to come with you inside me." She pulled his bottom lip between both of hers.

Her words set off shockwaves that traveled straight to his dick and he felt it twitch against him. JC's wound her hair around one hand and pulled her head down, opening his mouth against hers. “I love when you come with me inside you.”

Keeping their mouths connected, she reached between them, taking hold of him.

He groaned as her fingers closed around him. “Mmm, Casey.”

Seeming to move of their own accord, his hips lifted upward toward her. His stomach fluttered as she kissed down his chin and neck, still caressing him lightly. Lips, tongue, and teeth grazed down his naked torso and back up to his chest and he shivered.  

JC's eyes closed as he ran his hands across whatever part of her skin he could touch. He loved how soft and smooth she was beneath his wandering fingertips.

"You like that, Baby?" she whispered and he groaned inarticulate encouragement in reply.

"Look at me, JC," she said, repeating the words he usually spoke to her.

Stormy blue eyes locked on brown ones, an appreciative smile on his parted lips.

Hands on his chest, looking him in the eye while positioning him against her, Casey

lowered herself on to his waiting erection.

“Fuck.” The word escaped his lips in a guttural exhalation. She was a boiling cauldron of lust and arousal, setting him on fire. "You feel so good, Baby."

“Mmm.” Casey moaned as she slid down the entire length of him.

As she slid back up with maddening slowness, he gripped her waist forcefully, but temporarily fought the urge to force her back down. This was her show, for now. And for now, he was content to watch--and feel--her work her hips for their mutual enjoyment. The slick, scorching feeling of her moving up and down on him made his mouth go dry. He watched, tongue snaking out to wet his lips, where their bodies connected over and over.

When she leaned over and brushed her lips against his, JC released her hips and held her head to his, increasing the pressure of their lips against each other, assaulting her tongue with his own.

She groaned into his mouth. “Mmm...coming.”

Taking that as his cue, he grabbed her butt and pulled her down against him as he thrusted up into her. He took her rising cries and whimpers as a green light and his hips became a fury of movement against hers.

He felt her muscles begin to tighten and contract rhythmically against him, holding him tight as she hurtled toward her release. The feeling of her squeezing him, still rocking against him, the sound of her moaning his name over and over, set him off, careening over the edge of ecstasy.

He was saying things, he was pretty sure, but what those things were, he had no idea. His entire world was exploding into billions of the most beautiful pieces. His ears pounded in time with his heartbeat and for a few moments, everything went dark.

“Wow.” The whisper of her voice on his neck brought him back.

With a deep breath of contentment he rubbed his hands up and down the clammy skin of her back. “Wow is...yeah. Wow.”

They lay there in the silence. The forgotten recording had ended and the mostly dark TV screen was only softly illuminating the room.

With a heaved sigh, Casey slid somewhat off of him. She kept one leg cocked up and over  his hips, her face pressed against his chest, her other arm tossed across his body.

"We should do that again sometime," she murmured.

Eyes closed, JC sighed. "Yeah."

For a few moments there was no sound but their quiet inhalations and exhalations and then Casey spoke again.

"What are you going to do with the tape?"

"Guard it with my life," JC mumbled against the top of her head. "And maybe whack off to it on the nights you're not in my bed." He jumped a little when her teeth nipped him in a particularly ticklish spot.

"If only your fans knew what a dirty, dirty boy you really are." She snickered and he kissed the top of her head with a chuckle.

In the nearly two weeks since Chicago, things between them had only seemed to be getting better. Casey, especially, was obviously more relaxed and comfortable with everything that was most definitely growing between them. And it felt good to allow things to happen without second guessing his feelings, or hers.

He wrapped his arm around her, palming her butt. Pulling her tight to him, he inhaled into her hair.

***

JC put the travel cap back on his toothbrush and tossed it into his open toiletry bag. After wiping his mouth on a nearby towel, he readjusted his baseball cap and checked his watch.

Dinner--McDonald's because Casey said she was craving a Quarter Pounder with cheese--went without incident. No one appeared to notice the young celebrity couple sitting at the back of the restaurant. They ate and talked in anonymity, mostly about new music they were both working on.

Once they had gotten back to the hotel, Justin called to see if they wanted to go to a movie with him and Joey.

"You about ready, Case?" JC asked as he came out of the bathroom. "We're gonna try to get there early.”

“I’m ready whenever,” she replied from the bed. She leaned over to tie her shoe when her phone chimed next to her.  She smiled, seeing Jada’s name, and flipped it open to read the incoming text message.

I’m in the library so I can’t call you but I’m emailing you something I think you should hear. Maybe by yourself. Or maybe not. I don’t know.

JC noticed the way her expression fell as she looked down at the device in her hand. “What’s wrong?” He came to stand in front of her.

“Um...I don’t know,” she mumbled. Her brow was furrowed, a frown on her face. She tapped a reply on her cellphone. That sounds ominous. JC’s here. Should I wait until he’s not?

Jada’s reply came through almost immediately. Wear headphones? I’ll call you as soon as I can!

Casey closed her phone, tossed it to the side, and got off the bed. She grabbed a bag from the closet and brought it over to the desk in the room. “Jada wants me to check my email,” she said, pulling her laptop from the bag.

"Now?"

She situated it on the desk, connected to the hotel’s ethernet and within a couple of minutes she was online and logged into her email account.

"It'll be quick. I think." She clicked the newest message and JC came to stood behind her.

To: JayDuh@aol.com

To: GClefDiva@aol.com

I debated on whether to send this to you or not but...I think you should hear. Tony's an asshole. Can you sue him for defamation? Or slander?

Below Jada's message was a link to an audio clip from a radio station in Detroit. Casey hesitated, hovering the cursor over the link without clicking.

JC squeezed her shoulder. "Maybe you shouldn't listen, Case. If it involves Tony, whatever it is, it isn't good."

She tapped her free hand on the desk and shrugged. "You're probably right. But if I don't listen I'm gonna go crazy wondering."

She clicked the link and an audio file opened in the browser. It took a minute or so to load and then a bit of crackly static could be heard through the speakers. After another few seconds someone started talking.

"So if you're just tuning in this afternoon, we're live in-studio with hip-hop producer and soon-to-be media mogul extraordinaire Tony Benson."

Casey's reply was a disgusted grunt. “Mogul, my ass,” she muttered.

"Before the break," the DJ continued, "he was talking to us about the local acts he's been working with and what he has coming up. And that's great, that's exciting, Man. But, uh...OK, I want to talk about one of your former acts."

"I think I know who you're talking about," another voice said.

JC grimaced, recognizing Tony's voice. "Casey, are you sure--" he began.

She shushed him and straightened in her chair.

"Yeah," the DJ continued. "I'm sure you do. Casey Whitaker." He whistled low. "She's blowing up, Man, and you kinda...you were with her in the early days, right?"

Tony laughed again. "Yeah, yeah. I produced a couple of her songs."

"Aww, Man, that's not all though, right? Because you were...you were doing more than just producing some songs for her, right?"

Tony snickered. "Yeah, well, you know. That came later."

JC stepped next to her, trying to decipher the expression on her face. Despite the distinct tightening in her jaw, her eyes were blank. She sat rigidly in her seat, fingers gripping the chair's armrests. But he couldn't tell if it was disgust, embarrassment, or flat out rage under the surface.

Both men chuckled and the DJ continued. "I saw her spread in last month's Vibe. She's beautiful, sexy. Real sexy. You musta...you're lucky, Man."

"Yeah, yeah. Casey was a lot of fun," Tony said with a sigh.

"Is she freaky?"

Tony snickered as the DJ continued.

"'Cause some of those songs she sings and...you know, some of her pictures lately. She looks like she could really be down for some stuff, if you know what I mean."

Tony's smooth laugh came through the speakers and JC wanted to punch him. "Oh, Man...you know, you know I don't really kiss and tell, OK? But I'll just say that whatever you're thinking, you're probably right."

JC reached over her and grabbed the mouse, closing out the window.

"JC!" Casey whipped around to face him.

He stared back at her defiantly. “It’s bullshit, Casey, and you don’t need to listen to it.”

"I want to listen to it." She pursed her lips and glared at him.

"Why? Tony's a scumbag; why would you listen to anything he has to say?"

When she only stared at him in response, her eyes cold, he shoved the mouse back in her direction.

"Fine, whatever." He blew out a breath and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You don't have to stay if it bothers you that much," she mumbled.

"'If' it bothers me?" JC's eyes widened incredulously. "Seriously, Case? It should bother you!" He threw his hands up in exasperation and walked over to the bed, where he collapsed heavily.

Without so much as glancing at him, Casey reopened the webpage and fast-forwarded to where she left off.

"I knew it!" the DJ exclaimed triumphantly. "So, she's on tour with *NSYNC now, which is...that's not a partnership I would've expected. You were there in the beginning, too. So what...can you tell us about that?"

They could hear Tony’s groan through the speakers. "Yeah, at the time of...when her label came to her about touring with those guys I guess they wanted to, you know, expose her to a wider audience."

"Which, I mean, I guess it's working for her," the DJ interjected. "She's all over radio, on magazines and everything."

"Yeah, well. I'm sure it helps that she..." Tony faded off with a chuckle.

"That she what? Man...OK, you all listening can't see but he's got this little smirk on his face. So what's up? What were you about to say?"

Tony snorted. "Well, like you said, I was on the tour as her musical director. And, you know, I had been there with her almost from the very beginning. So I've been helping her and she's been successful. But almost as soon as she started opening for them *NSYNC dudes, well...let's just say that in her case, opening act probably means more than just going out onstage before them."

"Damn!" the DJ whistled again. "You're saying she--"

"I'm saying she got real friendly with them, real quick. Especially the young one with the curly hair. Yeah, he...he thinks he's down so..."

"Down with a little chocolate, huh?” the DJ quipped.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“So you’re saying something's going on with the two of them?"

Tony sighed again. "All I'm saying is...I was there. And we were together, and then she's spending all this time with him and then she told me she thought we should just be friends, and then I was off the tour. So...you know. Two plus two usually equals four, right?"

The audio ended and for a couple of seconds, Casey stared off into space.

From his spot at the foot of the bed, JC watched her quietly, his hands clasped in front of his face. With a shake of his head he stood back up and approached her from behind.

"You OK?" He placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned in to whisper against her ear.

Casey patted his hand and rested her head against his. "Like you said, he's a scumbag." She shrugged and stood up. "I'm fine."

Before he could say anything else there was a knock at the door.

She smiled. "Time to go."

***

Casey, laying flat on her back, stared up into the darkness. She could barely pay attention at the movie, for thinking about the things that Tony had said in the Detroit radio station. She’d caught JC staring at her a few times, and once or twice he leaned over to ask, again, if she was OK. She tried to convince him, with a passably bright smile and a nudge, that she was fine. But still he watched her, his expression remaining dubious.

They were back in the hotel, supposed to be going to sleep, but so far it eluded her.

Honestly, she was fine. For the most part. And for the most part, what Tony had said wasn’t that bad. Except for suggesting that she was, maybe, more than just an opening act. Except for hinting that she was, maybe, involved with Justin. But she wasn’t, and never had been, and despite Tony’s words there was no evidence to suggest otherwise. And the fact that his words played in an endless loop in her head...well, she knew that would stop in a day or two.

But he was right, in a way. Wrong member of *NSYNC, but she was doing more than just going out onstage before them. With JC, she was definitely doing a helluva lot more. And thinking about that, and what other people might think about that, weighed on her heavily.

“You want to talk about it?” JC’s voice was quiet in the dark.

She jumped, startled by hearing him. “I thought you were asleep.”

“Nope. So do you want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”

"Whatever it is that's keeping you awake right now."

Casey laughed softly. "Is it that obvious?"

“Yeah, kinda.” When she didn’t respond he said, “So what’s on your mind?”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s just, you know...what we talked about a couple of weeks ago? The whole boyfriend and girlfriend thing?”

“What about it? Did you change your mind already?” His voice held and odd quality that she couldn’t quite figure out.

“No,” she said quickly. “Nothing like that. I was just...well, I just was thinking we should probably keep it quiet for now, right? I don’t think I’m ready for your fans to know I’m your girlfriend. They can be kind of...intense.”

“That’s very diplomatic of you,” he said flatly.

“JC…” Casey began.

“Casey, this is about that bullshit interview.”

His voice was mild but Casey cringed inwardly. “Yes. No. I don’t know.”

JC turned over so that he was facing her, and trailed his hand up her body from her hip to her cheek. “I wish you hadn’t listened to it,” he said softly.

She sighed and squeezed her eyes shut. “Me too,” she mumbled.

“I wish you would just…”

When he didn’t continue Casey said, “You wish I would what?”

JC leaned closer to her and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I think my fans, and everyone else, will handle the fact that we’re together better than you expect.” He turned over onto his back next to her.

“What does that mean?”

He found her hand on the bed next to his, and slipped his fingers through hers. “It means Tony’s an asshole, and we don’t have to tell anyone you don’t want to tell. Goodnight, Casey.”

She turned her head towards him and could just make out his silhouette in the darkness. She raised their clasped hands to her lips and brushed a kiss across the back of his hand. “Goodnight, JC."

She should’ve felt better, more settled. But she didn’t. If anything, she felt worse.