Five minutes later JC was pulling out of his garage with Ellie slouched down in the passenger seat of his black Mercedes SL550 Roadster.  It was a little less flashy than the Porsche.  Granted, it was a convertible, but it was a hard-top convertible and he had no plans on putting the thing down and exposing them to the world—or the cold.  It was both windy and chilly outside.

Regardless, Ellie was slumped down as far as the seat belt would allow, with her hood up.  A run for a burrito had to be safe.  That’s what she’d really wanted to eat and for some damned reason he had this nagging urge to satisfy ALL of her wants, and then some.  Besides, he had absolutely no food in his house.  Sure, they could have just went to her house, but walking across the street together was probably more risky than pulling out of the garage in his car.

As long as they didn’t get stopped by Gabby.

Safely out of their neighborhood, Ellie sat up a bit and pulled her hood off.  “These windows are pretty dark,” she said.

“Yeah, I think we’re safe.”  He took a quick glance at her while stopping at a traffic light, realizing he was probably way over his head with this one.  He honestly liked this girl, probably too much.  She looked damn good sitting beside him in the car.  She fit—nicely.  It didn’t have anything to do with the way she looked.  She just fit.  He couldn’t explain it if he tried.

“This is just the silliest thing ever,” she smirked.  “I can’t believe I’m nervous about going through a drive-thru— Wait, this place does have a drive-thru, right?”

JC nodded.  “Yes.  It does.”  It was just a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican tacqueria.  It was kind of far from his house, but the food was good and the chance of them getting caught by the so-called “paps” was slim to none.

She leaned forward and turned on his radio; one of his eyes glued to her movements and the other glued to the road.  It probably wasn’t the safest way to drive, but he’d done worse things while behind the wheel—unfortunately. 

Lightly she smirked and that immediately drew his attention even more.  “What?” he asked.

“Don’t laugh, but this song reminds me of you,” she told him, now looking his way.

He must have looked at her kind of funny.  He didn’t really get it.  He knew it was Mariah Carey’s new song, the main lyric being “Touch my body” so he guess he understood why it might remind her of him.  He wanted to grin at the thought of just how much he enjoyed touching her body, but he managed to hold back.

“See.  Listen—”  She was pointing at the tuner, like that’s where the sound came out.  He got her point.

The song was purely about sex, and secret sex at that.  Okay, so it took a minute, but he totally got it.  “You know,” he remarked, stealing a quick glance at her one more time.  She wasn’t just attractive, she was cute—and that could be deadly.  “I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

She stared at him, obviously puzzled.  “Why?”  Her hair was kind of crazy, reminiscent of bed-head even though they hadn’t been there yet, probably from the hood she’d been wearing.  More and more he was realizing that what he was feeling wasn’t just in the more obvious desire-driven parts of his anatomy.  There was a yearning that struck him right in the chest, but at that moment he was being too playful with her to let it affect him.

“I don’t know, the whole secret rendezvous thing… You act like you’re afraid to be seen with me or something.”  He was completely being sarcastic.  If she didn’t get it he was going to smack himself.

“JC!” She practically shot out of her seat as his name came flying from her mouth.  He couldn’t help but smile.  Why did he love getting her worked up over nothing?

“I’m kidding,” he said quickly, one hand up in his defense as he was trying to turn off the smile on his face.  “I’m kidding, I’m kidding, I’m kidding.  I get it.”

She kind of slumped back into her seat.  “I wouldn’t mind being seen with you at all,” she remarked, sounding slightly defeated.  “If I could…”

JC chuckled.  “I was just giving you a hard time.  Don’t get upset.”

“I’m not upset,” she defended.  “I just kind of thought you might take it more as a compliment that it reminds me of you.”

“Why?  Because it says touch my body over and over again?”  He was watching her again from the corner of his eye, a playful look of waiting on his face.

“Yes.”

“Well, I guess we just better hurry up and get some food then so we can hurry up and get back.”  The last half of the sentence came out in a very round-about yet suggestive fashion—completely done on purpose, of course.

Thirty minutes had passed before they were pulling up their street again.  They’d eaten their food on the way back and now Ellie’s hunger was completely satisfied.  Well, her hunger for food anyway!  Her hunger for JC had quadrupled.  Their conversation had bordered playful yet suggestive the entire trip. 

After she’d confessed her feelings about the “Touch My Body” song, he’d felt it necessary to switch the stereo to a CD, a style of a music that he called “trip hop.”  It was clear that JC had a very eclectic taste in music, and what they listened to for the rest of the ride had been both sexy and erotic, and up-tempo, all at the same time.  She wasn’t sure if he’d done it on purpose or not, but either way, she’d consumed just enough bites of her burrito to subside her hunger and then dumped the rest of the thing in the bag.  She had way too much going on inside of her body to eat.

They were just turning into his driveway and she instinctively unbuckled her seatbelt, ready to get out quickly.

“Fuck me…” 

If the words had been said in a different context, she might have said okay, but unfortunately it was obvious by the groan that had accompanied his words that the reason for them had not been pleasant.  As soon as Ellie looked up, she realized exactly what that reason was.  Gabby was marching straight towards the car, in the middle of his short driveway.  It was almost like she was blocking the path into the garage on purpose!How much nerve did this woman have anyway!

“Fuck me is right,” Ellie reiterated.

She didn’t miss his reaction to her words—a quick sideways glance along with what almost sounded like a sigh of pain.  She wasn’t sure if it was the thoughts that had just ran through his mind or the realization that they were going to have to deal with Gabby.

“Do you think anyone would notice she was missing if we just ran her over?”  Of course Ellie was totally kidding.

JC was smirking again.  “Probably not, but she might put a big dent in my car.”

Ellie chuckled softly under her breath, just as the annoyance was stepping around to JC’s window.  “If you just pull straight in, will she follow?”

He was groaning, a definite snarl to his otherwise attractive lips.  “Yes.”

“Damn.”  Ellie was snarling too, as JC was rolling down his window.  In her head she was cussing about a thousand cuss words—or at least all she could think of, anyway.

“Hey sweetie…” Gabby’s voice came through faker than usual—saccharine sweet.  “You don’t happen to—”  The woman stopped then, mid sentence, and Ellie realized instantly it was because she’d been discovered.  “Oh…” Gabby continued, eyeing Ellie first and then slithering her sight back over to JC.  It was definitely not a friendly look.  How does the old saying go?  If looks could kill, you’d be lying on the floor… or something like that?  That definitely described Gabby’s stare at the moment.  She was very obviously pissed.  “Nice to see you’ve rolled out the welcome wagon for our new neighbor.  I won’t keep you guys.”  She stepped back.  “Night…”

JC was already pulling into the garage and rolling up his window.  Ellie, on the other hand, was busy letting her head fall between her knees as she was trying to inhale deep and calming breaths.

He turned off the car and she heard the rolling of the garage door shut behind them.

Of course, she was too occupied with her hysteria at the moment to move.  “Fuck, fuck, fuck…”  She was cursing again, very softly, her body still hunched over and her hands over her head.  She was staring at the black floor mat beneath her feet and nothing else.

When she knew a good minute or two had gone by and JC hadn’t said a word, she finally tilted her head to get a peek at him.  He was just sitting there, staring at her, waiting.  “There’s nothing we can do about it now,” he said simply.

Ellie sat up in the seat.  “She’ll sell it, JC.  She is going to call every mother fucking tabloid in L.A.”

He was still just staring at her, but as she spoke, she watched a very thin smile ease over his lips.  “You really do have a bad mouth,” he told her, still grinning.

How on Earth could he be amused at a time like this?  “I think if ever there was an appropriate time for a good cuss word or two, now is it.”

JC agreed, nodding slightly.  “It’s kind of sexy.”

Ellie just shook her head.  “There are probably going to be ten paparazzi lining our street tomorrow morning.”

JC shook his head no.  “By the time she makes all her phone calls, it’ll probably be ten a.m. at least.”

Ellie automatically rolled her eyes.  “So you’re not worried?”

“Of course I’m worried.”

“Honestly, I think I probably need to go home, before it’s too late.”  Her state of panic was climbing by the second.  She was freaking out a little bit, her hands up with obvious frustration as she blurted out an exasperated “God!”  Then continued after a momentary pause, “I don’t wanna go home.  I wanna go get naked in that big bed of yours—with you!”  The hysteria was still apparent as she’d just blatantly confessed her sexual needs to him.  Obviously she wasn’t thinking about being discreet at the moment.

JC was smiling again, looking slightly puzzled.  “So why the hell are we still sitting in the car?”  He asked, his brow raised with question.

“Because, I told you, I should leave now while it’s still safe.”

He leaned towards her then, looking all sexy and seductive.  “How do we know it’s safe?  I’m sure she has a camera.  She could easily take the pictures herself, right now, if you left.”

“Shit…” Ellie sighed.

JC just kept inching closer.  He’d completely maneuvered his top half to her side of the car, so close she could reach forward and kiss him.  “So let’s go get naked in that big bed of mine.”  It came out extremely sexy and inviting when he said it, of course.

She didn’t even bother to form a response.  Instead she popped the door handle and slipped out of the car.  JC immediately followed her lead and was meeting her at the front of the hood.  She was ready to follow him inside the house, but he stopped to grab hold of her hand.  The look in his eyes was sort of comforting.  It was obvious she was upset and it was also obvious that he didn’t really like seeing her that way. 

Tenderly he pressed one lingering kiss to her lips.  “Calm down,” he spoke softly, gently.  “We’ll figure a way to get you back home without anyone getting a picture, okay?”

It was like her panic was instantly gone.  Completely submissive to whatever he might say at that moment, she simply agreed with a nod.  Then, with her fingers still hooked to his, she let him guide her through the dimly lit garage and inside of the house.

“Go ahead,” he told her, tipping his head towards the hall while holding the trash from the car.  “I’m gonna throw this away and I’ll be right there.  You want anything else?”

She shook her head no and headed down the now-familiar path to his bedroom.  A lamp on one of his nightstands was glowing dimly, illuminating the room just enough to make it seem inviting.  Well, it didn’t need to seem anything to her.  She knew just how inviting it was firsthand.

With a deep sigh she plopped down on the neatly made bed and fell flat on her back, staring up at the blank ceiling for a minute.  She just wanted to escape—escape from her own life.  Was that possible?  She didn’t want to deal with all the shit she was going through at the moment.  Spending time with JC seemed to be the only positive thing she had to hang on to.  It was also the one thing she’d been advised NOT to do.  Oh well.  She was ignoring that advice at that particular moment.

Her ears notified her that he was coming before she actually saw him.  She heard his footsteps and had been watching the door from the corner of her eye when he came in.  His swagger was completely undeniable, and she realized it was also completely automatic for him, which made it all the more attractive.  He had absolutely no idea that he was doing it.  His walk was just sexy.  He was just sexy.

And Ellie couldn’t wait to sex him up fully. 

“I should probably sneak home.”  Ellie reached a hand out from under the bedding and trailed her fingertips down the side of JC’s face.  She might have been talking about going home, but so far she hadn’t even come close to leaving.

“I don’t think I’m ready for you to leave yet.”  JC was sprawled out on his side, looking straight at her, all naked and yummy.  One of her legs was hooked over his muscular thigh as his palm rested against her hip.  It was an extremely intimate position they shared.  She wasn’t ready for it to end yet either.

JC pressed a moist kiss to the top of her forehead and her eyes automatically closed at the feel of his velvety touch against her skin.  “If you insist,” she voiced. 

“I kind of like having you in my bed,” he continued, his lips brushing the corner of her mouth this time.  She caught his kiss before he could slip away, capturing his lips in another steamy fusion.  Instinctively, her hand slipped around his rib cage to his back.  The shift closed what little space had been left them between them seconds earlier.  He just felt so amazingly good to touch—all strong and warm and soft and inviting.  Everything a woman could ever hope to feel when touching a man.

Next thing she knew he was rolling on to his back and she was climbing on top of him, their passionate kiss not waning in the slightest.  Almost instantly she was aware that he was again completely ready for her, as they’d switched to the most intimate position possible.  It would have been so easy to let him ease right into her, but she knew better.

Breathing against the side of his neck, she buried her face into him, lightly trailing her tongue against the bottom of his ear.  “How come you make me so hot when you didn’t even do anything?”

JC chuckled something deep, a total bed room voice if she’d ever heard one.  “I’d like to think I did  something,” he remarked.

She let her body settle against him as she pressed a kiss into his flesh.  “Yeah,” she was breathing into his ear again.  “Just being here did something,” she decided.

Both of his arms were around her, his fingers trailing up and down her spine.  “I have that affect on women.  Didn’t I tell you that?”   He was smiling.  She couldn’t see it, but she could feel it in his jaw.

“Maybe once or twice,” she smirked playfully, indulging in the taste of his skin once more.  His neck was just a tad bit rough, but—God—how she loved the way he felt on her lips.  If she ended up overdosing on Chapstick the next day that would be perfectly fine.  It’d just be a constant reminder of another memorable evening with Mr. JC Chasez.

His grip slid down to her butt, where he immediately gave her a good squeeze.  Then he tipped her off of him and slipped out from under her.  Looking her over with confidence, no doubt realizing she was a little puzzled after what he’d just done, he gave her a flirty wink and said, “I’ll be right back.”  Then he rolled out of bed and disappeared, not bothering to put one piece of clothing on.  She’d enjoyed the view immensely, even though it had only lasted a second.  The curve of his bare ass alone was enough to keep her senses happy for a very, very long time.

JC opened the closet in the guest room just down the hall from his master suite and reached up to the top shelf.  He was expecting to find a box of condoms.  It wasn’t there. 

Shit.

Who’d taken it?  Mac?  Or Trey?  Or his fucking brother who’d been out to visit just before Ellie had moved in?  Damn.  Not that he could be mad, anyway.  He was all for everyone he knew to be cautious and safe, which is why he kept them in the spare room to begin with.  It was just now that he needed them, they weren’t there and he really wanted to have Ellie one more time.

Shit.

Oh well.  All he could do was be honest with her.

Shutting the closet and turning off the bedroom light, he moved across the hall to the laundry room and pulled a clean pair of sweat shorts out of the dryer, pulling them on.  Then he went out to the kitchen, thinking he needed to bring back something.  It was still fairly early, not even midnight.

Finally making a decision, he grabbed a nice bottle of cabernet and two bulbous goblets, making way back to the safe-haven of his bedroom.  Of course, he found Ellie sprawled out on her side, only half covered by the sheet, her breasts heaving, as she was definitely thinking one thing and one thing only.

Shit.

With the wine bottle tucked under the crook of his arm, he moved towards her, deciding there was no need to beat around the bush.  “I’m out of condoms.”

She sat up, still not bothering to cover herself.  Dammit.  “Oh,” was all she said.

He sat down beside her, one leg still hanging off the side of the mattress.  “Sorry.”

She shrugged and he almost wanted to cry with every subtle move of her amazingly gorgeous—and natural—chest.  Dammit.

“I brought wine.  We could watch a movie?”

She nodded.  “That’s probably best.  I’m not on any type of birth control so we can’t afford to take any chances.”

He understood completely.  “You wanna a shirt?”

With a grin and a flirtatious bat of her eye lashes, she asked, “do I need one?”

He nodded, a little more eagerly than he would have liked.  Ellie was instantly giggling because of it.  “Okay,” she said.

Quickly he stood and moved into his closet, pulling a plain t-shirt from one of the built-in drawers.  He tossed it to her when he was only a few steps from the bed and she immediately pulled it over her head.  With an inward sigh, he sat down just in time to realize he’d forgot one major item.  “Shit.  I forgot the corkscrew.”  He picked up the TV remote and turned on the 50-inch hanging across the room. 

“I can go get it,” she offered.

JC shook his head, pressing the menu button on the remote until he got her to the VUDU menu.  Then he handed her the movie player’s remote.  “Here,” he told her.  “Find us something to watch.  I’ll go get it.”

When he returned, Ellie was still scrolling through the vast movie menu that VUDU had to offer.  Her head turned upon sensing his presence.  “What kind of movies do you like?” she asked him.

He shrugged and sat down, determined not to get up again unless absolutely necessary.  “Good ones,” he stated simply, thinking that some extra pillows would be nice.  He got up again, even though he had vowed not to, and moved back into his closet.

“Something new?” he heard her ask. 

“Sure,” he called out, reaching up to a top shelf where he stored extra bedding and pillows.  He grabbed three good sized feather-down ones, along with clean matching slips, and made way back into the bedroom again.

“Okay, I’ve narrowed it down to three,” she said, her eyes focusing on him briefly as he stuffed the fluffy pillows into their 800-thread-count coverings.  “Superbad, Good Luck Chuck or I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.”

The pillows finally prepped he handed one her way and she stuffed it behind her head.  “I guess we’ve decided on a comedy then?” Fluffing an extra pillow behind his own head, he finally returned to his spot, where he absolutely did not plan on getting up again unless absolutely necessary. 

“Yes,” she grinned.

“Not Good Luck Chuck,” he told her, “too much sex.”  He figured that he didn’t really need to explain why that wouldn’t be a good idea.

Without anymore hesitation, she pressed the button, deciding on Superbad.  He’d seen it, but it was funny and he really cared less about the movie anyway.  The whole point was to give her a reason to stick around longer, even though they would have to refrain from anymore sexual recreation.

Although, he could think of a few things they could do without getting themselves in trouble…

He realized she was staring at him then, as his mind had been totally wandering, and met her eyes without question.  “The wine?” she said.

“Oh.”  He reached over and grabbed the bottle, finally opening it.  “Should we let it breath for a minute?” he asked her.

She shook her head no and said, “nah…”

He found himself smiling for no particular reason, except for the fact that she looked amazing in his bed, her hair incredibly mussed at this point—and rightfully so, to say the least.  Her skin was a little flushed, still, and she had this unmistakable glow about her.  He found himself wondering what man in their right mind would ever let Ellie slip away? 

His stare must have been obvious again, because as soon as he realized what he was doing, he also realized that she was staring right back with this glossy and silly look across her face.  “Do I have to get it myself?” she asked, with a playful grin. 

Then, without one second of hesitation, she proceeded to reach right over him, practically crawling across his lap.  Immediately he stopped her, grabbing hold of her shoulders, and placing her back down where she’d been before.  “I’ll get it,” he assured, “you just keep that pretty little ass of yours planted on the mattress.”

She was instantly chuckling, as he finally poured her glass and handed it to her.  She took a small sip and then brought her sight back to him with smiling eyes.  “I probably shouldn’t tempt you, should I?” she remarked with a devilish grin.  Obviously she knew the affect she had on him.

“Probably not, considering you so honestly confessed that you’re not on any type of birth control and that’s the last thing either of us need right now.”

“You’re right.”  She sank into the pillows and returned her glass to her lips, both of them trying their best to concentrate on the movie instead of each other.

© BrandyRae 2008