JC

He felt like a sap, but he couldn’t help it. Every minute that he knew her, he was happy he’d put himself in her path and almost forced himself on her. Happy she was open to being with him, for the most part. But—and there was always a but—if he was being honest with himself, JC was more than a little concerned about the meeting. He was putting on a brave front, but the last place he needed to be was in the middle of a family feud and what could turn into an ugly controversy.

It was too late to back out now, though. He was involved—he’d asked to be involved, and couldn’t leave Shelby to fight them alone, and couldn’t, in good conscience, let her dip into her own accounts to keep his name out of the mess. They’d have to deal with things as best they could. And if he had to, he’d call his ‘more powerful and not inclined to take bullshit’ LA attorney. But only if he had to.

In the meantime, it was his job to keep Shelby’s mind off of Monday. And by means necessary, he planned to do that.

JC had been to Miami more times than he could count. He didn’t feel like a tourist anymore- hadn’t in years. His previous trips had taught him that the best part of Miami was the nightlife. During the day he did his best to pass the time, lounging on the beach, sleeping or playing with a sexy-yet-vapid conquest until the sun sank below the horizon and the pretty people came out to play. This trip was different. This trip, he was with Shelby.

She drove, directing him a tour of the Miami that she had known her whole life and he’d never seen-- her elementary, junior and senior high schools, the college that she tried to attend before dropping out,  the small-off campus bar where she waitressed, the upscale downtown club where she had met Lucas and her life began to take on the feeling of riding a roller coaster.

Maybe she was tired or nervous or not all there, but Shelby didn’t seem sentimental. She wasn’t wistful during her stint as a tour guide, more informational. She pointed, rattling off figures and interesting facts that she must have thought he wanted to know. He didn’t mind the history lesson, but he wanted to know why the places were important to her, and what memories she still had of them.

As if she could read his mind, she mused, almost under her breath, “I kind of can’t wait to get out of Miami. It’s always home, but this Lucas thing has ruined this city for me. I feel like Orlando is home, now. I really want to go home.”

Later that evening, over sushi, tender cuts of beef, crisp green salad and just enough Sake to make the night interesting, he let himself ask the questions that had been on the tip of his tongue most of the day. One step at a time, one issue at a time, he’d told himself, but now was as good a time as any to ask them.

“Did you want to talk about last night at all?”

Shelby paused, her chopsticks holding a half eaten tuna roll in limbo between her plate and her mouth. “You obviously want to,” she said, before popping the last half into her mouth. “Say what you need to say.”

“You sound like you think you know what I’m gonna say.”

“Don’t I?”

“How about you try not to act so smart and just listen, hmm?”

She set her chopsticks on the corner of an elegant, square plate, picked up a small glass mug and tipped it back. She swallowed and sat back, her eyes on him. That look was back—bravado. The strong, brave face, full of mock nonchalance. She put it on when he would ask her questions about her past. This time, though, he was hoping there would be no evasive maneuvers.

"So, I mean... I'm gonna try not to be a jerk but I'm pretty straightforward. It's hard for me to bullshit. Just know that I'm not mad, okay? I just feel like I need to be real with you."

Shelby nodded a brave, solemn bob to her head and an almost audible swallow.

"So. I know you know I really shouldn't be here, right now. I should be in Orlando, getting my life back on track and avoiding this drama. I know you know that, because you tried to run from me.”

Shelby's eyes didn't waver from him. She had to know he was right. "Why are you here, then?"

JC shook his head, his eyes wandering the full restaurant. "I wish I could say, Shelby. I mean, I know all of this stuff and you showed me a side of you that... I guess I'm disappointed. I don't even know if I have a right to be, because I didn’t know you then I don’t even know you, now. But then I see you and I kiss you and it's like I've known you my whole life. I can't walk away from you. I kind of want to. At another time in my life, I would have. I think it's only fair that you know that."

She nodded, slowly. Knowing. "I’m honestly trying not to question why you’re still here. Like, maybe you’re just hanging around to make sure your reputation isn’t damaged and then you go your way and I go mine. And if that’s how it has to be, then fine. But don’t be overly nice. Don’t be romantic with me. Don’t kiss me like you kiss me and make me feel the way you do."

“Is that what you want?”

He hadn’t meant to sound so… stern… but after everything they’d talked about, it was like Shelby hadn’t heard a word he’d said. Why was he putting so much on the line for a woman who was determined to push him away? Did she have any idea what he was sacrificing to be near her?

“Do you want me to walk away, Shelby? I mean, I know I said I’d fight to stand next to you, but if you seriously want that, I’ll take you back to your folk’s place and head home.”

“No,” she said plainly. The chopsticks were back in her hands and she was poking at stray grains of rice. She’d yet to lift her eyes to him. “No, that’s not what I want. I just… was agreeing with you about where you said you should be and what you said you should be doing. I’m glad you’re here, in the wrong place, where you shouldn’t be.”

 Finally, she tipped her head up and he caught a hint of a shine to her brown eyes.

"Here's the thing. You and I both know that if you had told me that story on our second or third date that I would have never called you back. You hid things from me for a reason and I understand that, but it was still underhanded. I don’t have to like it. I don’t have time in my life to figure out what game somebody’s playing. At the same time, I think back to the last six months and everything we've done together and everything we've been together and I get it. I don't know that I would have changed anything, if I had it to do over again."

Shelby seemed surprised at that. Her eyes grew big and round and her head tilted slightly in confusion. She started to say something, but JC pressed a finger to her lip, shaking his head. "What I'm trying to say is that I guess I do know why I'm here. There's a reason I don't give a shit about all the stuff that came in that package from Melina, and why I heard what you said last night but it doesn't really matter, in terms of how I feel about you."

"JC, I-"

"Shhh, wait…I've been thinking about this. I just want to say it, and we'll deal with it after I get the words out."

Shelby pressed her lips together and sat in front of him, mute and expectant and wide-eyed. The backdrop of the clear, starry night over wave after crashing wave onto the beach outside the restaurant, the warm temperature, the light scent of salt in the air from the ocean... it was perfect. He couldn't have arranged a better setting if he'd tried.

"What I'm trying to say, Shelby, is that...despite everything, and I do mean everything, I love you. I'm here because I want this cleared up. I want you to be free to go home, back to Orlando and live your life. With me in it. What kind of life that is, is up to you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It means that I want to make this, you and I--" He pointed, indicating the both of them. "I want to make this official. No more hiding or lying. No more saving ourselves for one night a week. You stop living in fear and looking over your shoulder and being scared. And you and I have a real relationship. We give us a real chance."

Shelby didn't say a word. At least for a minute or two, she alternately stared into his eyes, pools of electric blue, and glanced over his shoulder at their fellow restaurant patrons, the view, anything but him. JC stood his ground and held his gaze on her face. Waiting.

“Tell me about Kim,” she said. Surprise, he was sure, registered on his face. “Are you over her? Are you over what she did to you?”

“Kim was…” JC sighed. He didn’t want to talk about Kim.  Not to Shelby. “Well, there was a time in my life when I was desperate to be with her. I wanted to share my life with her. She didn’t want that and I admit I wasn’t working very hard to let her go. Really, just lashing out and trying to numb myself.”

“And now?”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to be with her, Shelby. In the way that you’ll always remember Lucas, I’ll always remember her, but I don’t love her. Not in the same way. I told you, I saw her in LA.” Shelby nodded, a flash of… something… crossing her face. Jealousy, perhaps. “I almost slept with her.”

There it was again. It was most certainly jealousy. She shrank back and averted her eyes and turned her head and bit her lip. Jealousy is a useful emotion. It means you still care.

“Almost?” She asked, quietly.

“But I didn’t. Because she wasn’t Shelby. She wasn’t you. And I told her that.”

“Did she want you back?”

“Uhm…”  JC almost answered, but thought better of it. considered the question for a long moment. Did she, really? Or, like him, did she enjoy the ease and comfort of the past? 

“Kim thinks she wants me back, but… really, she’s looking for something that doesn’t exist anymore and was digging for it in a familiar place. I’ve put that part of my life behind me. I’m moving forward, in every aspect. You haven’t told me if you’re moving with me. Do you want to keep doing what we were doing, limiting ourselves to one night a week and keeping each other at arm’s length and using each other for sex and nothing else?”

Shelby sat forward again, leaned her elbows onto the table and clasped her hands behind her neck. After a few moments of silence, she shook her head, and quietly said, “No.”

When her face lifted again, her eyes found his and locked. "I tried to break it off with you, but I couldn't. The plan was to just start backing off, be standoffish and distant and kind of fade away. But I couldn't do it. You were everything good in my life, too much good. I got used to it and then I got addicted to it and I was hardly making it, week to week. I felt like I was jumping you, the second you walked in that door every Thursday. I wanted more of you and I didn't feel like I deserved more of you."

"Well, I mean... we can't really measure who deserves who. We all make mistakes. Most people have a past. I can't fault you for having baggage. I have some, too."

She smiled. "Kim?"

He nodded, blushing. "A lot of Kim. A lot of women past Kim and before Kim, too. A lot of hurts from  a lot of people, a lot of my old life. A lot of things I always think I left behind, but they're lurking right around the corner. You're not the only one that tried to escape something. I left LA in a big damn hurry."

“So…” Shelby smiled warmly but didn't look away. "I’m not ready to say what I feel, yet. But I feel something. Something big, big enough to want you to live a life free of all the drama that surrounds me. Enough that I don't want you hurt because of something I did and how I used to live."

"The thing is, though? I love you. And the thing about loving someone and being in love with them is that you don't want them to go through this kind of thing alone. What kind of man would I be if I was living it easy, back in Orlando, while you're down here trying to deal with this? I get what you're saying, but sacrificing yourself isn’t… feeling something for me.” He stopped to chuckle a little at her wording. She’d say it, eventually. “It's taking you away from me. It's hurting me and hurting us. You get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," Shelby whispered, not trusting her voice. "I get it."

A  romantic, moonlit walk along the beach at the edge of the water line, fingers entangled together and bare feet in the sand was the perfect complement to their meal. They sprayed the caked mud off of their feet, slipped their shoes back on and headed back upstairs to the room. The following morning would be stressful, at the very least. JC hoped Shelby would sleep, some. Maybe he could help.

As soon as the door closed behind them, JC took control, pushing Shelby up against the door and stepping in to her, closer and closer until there wasn't a sliver of air between them. Body pressed against body, two sets of hands wildly explored, reaching and groping and pulling and squeezing. Mouths pressed together, tongues dancing and swirling and chasing one another while hungry groans rose, accompanied by dry, raspy gulps of air between fiery kisses.

His body ached for him, every nerve cell reaching toward her. The days away had been so much self imposed torture for the both of them. Now that he was there and near and within her grasp, she clutched him, clawing at him like she couldn't get enough of him, couldn't get to him fast enough. 

JC pressed, moving closer, spreading her legs with his feet and stepped between them, fitting himself into the new space he'd made. Shelby's hips seemed to move on their own, grinding into him as he leaned into her. A white hot pooling between her thighs and increased heartbeat turned her skin red like sunburn. His was already dewy with sweat, the pink hue of his skin complementing hers.

He pulled away, all except for his hands, which reached for hers. He led her, buckling knees and nodding head and half-open eyes across the carpet, past the bathroom, toward the bed, neatly made but not for long.

Shelby climbed up onto the bed, laying back, watching JC open the in-room refrigerator and pull several bottles of water. He set them on the nightstand and then went for his duffle bag, tossing a few small, square packages onto the table next to the water.

"Wow, someone came ready." Shelby asked, a hint of laughter to her voice while she watched him prepare.

"Not quite," he shot over his shoulder, settling on the edge of the bed and bending over.

"Oh, shit!” She fell back, laughing so hard she coughed. “I forgot that you can't just kick off your shoes in a fit of passion. You have to untie them." She laughed, kicking her own shoes off and flinging them across the room.

"You know what?" JC grinned, sitting up, and then with a few swift motions, two stark white sneakers flew across the room and landed near the wall. "There. I kicked my shoes off. Happy?"

"Very. Come here," she said her arms open wide. He climbed up onto the bed, into her arms, easing himself onto her. Her legs opened and wrapped around him, her arms closed around his neck, her lips sought his lips out and when they were found, plastered themselves to his.

When the fire of the kiss had faded slightly, they pulled back and just stared at each other. Smiling, laughing, tickling and teasing, flirting. Like old times. Like every other time they'd been together, but better. Because they'd be together that night. And the next day. And the day after. And every night until forever came, if JC got his way.  And he always got his way.

A thick finger traced a path of skin from her neck down into the zippered jacket of the jogging suit she wore forcing the zipper down until it revealed her bra and supple skin encased within it. "I don't think you missed me as much as I missed you. I thought I lost you. I was having a hard time dealing with that."

"You missed me?"

"Mmmhmmm," he hummed, his head dipping toward the swell of a breast, his lips lightly dancing over the skin. In the wake of his breath, more bumps erupted, and her nipples hardened anew, pressing against the prison of lace that was her bra. He pulled at the fabric, moving the cup aside and exposing the entire breast and angry red nipple, growing and reaching toward him in the coolness of the air conditioned room.

His mouth, warm and tender, closed over it, his tongue flicking expertly, the way she liked it. Her hips responded in the usual way, with a violent clench and a roll against him, pressed against her body.  He freed the other breast from the cup and gave it the same treatment, moving back and forth between the two.

"They missed you," Shelby purred, her hips working, rolling in a rhythm undefined.

"I missed them." His eyes rolled up to meet hers while he licked a thick stripe down her chest. "Wishing for some tequila and salt and lime right now."

"We can make do without it, can't we?"

JC smiled, his eyes only half open but sparkling. "I plan on it."

He went back to licking and sucking and flicking, while her breaths continued to come in short bursts, timed with the near desperate thrusts and rolls of her hips up and into him. He was rigid and long and perfectly placed between them, allowing the long simmer that had bubbled just under the surface to boil over into a loud, powerful, convulsive orgasm. Shelby's limbs tightened around him as she rocked against him, alternately groaning and yelping and muttering into his ear.

When she had calmed reasonably, but was still panting and glowing with a light sheen of sweat, JC sat up and pulled off his t-shirt, unbuttoned his jeans and kicked out of them. "Your turn," he said, teasing her with a grin, pulling at her clothes.

"I'm working on it," she grumbled, helping him pull the jacket off and the shirt down, and then unclasped her bra and pulled it off, too. Her clothes were dropped in a pile alongside the bed and two naked bodies rolled around on bed, free of any barrier of clothing or shyness or inhibition.

JC was reminded of that night, the first date, the first time they were together. The longing for her, wanting her, watching her and how she moved and how she was, with him. Like she couldn’t get enough of him, like she hadn’t had sex… good or otherwise... in a long, long time.

He understood so much, now. She had been hungry. Sex starved. She swallowed him up and came back for more. Every time with her seemed like that first time. He hoped this time would feel like that, too. A long awaited reunion full of passion and, most importantly, the promise of tomorrow.

Shelby seemed quiet, comparatively. Except for the very vocal orgasm, she didn't take on her usual role of goading and teasing, tossing banter back and forth, making sex with her fun and exciting. Maybe it had something to do with how he took over the situation as soon as they hit the room. She was giving control to him, letting him call the shots where she normally would.  

"How we doin'?" he asked, rolling on top again and squirming at the feeling of her legs closing around him.

"We are just fine," she said, her voice soft but carrying that sexy, sultry undertone that sent shivers up his spine and made the hairs on his nape stand on end. He dove into her, burying his face into her neck, nibbling and biting at her skin, her earlobes, her cheek, her chin, then beginning his descent down her body. Past her neck, where he took a moment to savor the dip at her throat. Down her chest, where he stopped to linger over one nipple and then the other, teasing her back to the simmering point. Further down, across her belly, the skin so smooth and soft, he just laid there a while, rubbing the pads of his fingers across from one side of her to the other.

Finally moving on, he crept past her belly button and lower belly to a mound of sensitive skin and nerve endings, the root of fire and passion. He took his time, laying light kisses along her thighs, savoring her skin and how it felt against his, and then moving back up to the whole point of his journey.

Soft, slow, gentle, tender at first, he teased her, his tongue working its way along the folds of skin and up to her clit, engorged and red. Shelby's legs opened further, her head tipped up, watching him. Her breath caught in her throat as he took the sensitive, red-hot bud into his mouth and played with it, his tongue stroking in a rhythm that did nothing to settle the boil. Shelby gasped, sucking in air, her hips arching toward him, hands flying to the back of his head, pressing him harder into her. This brought a moan from his throat and roll to his hips as he rubbed against the comforter that covered the bed. His dick was erect, rock solid beneath him, trapped between the warmth of his body and the give of the mattress, ready to explode, as soon as it made contact with something wet.

Hang in there, he told himself, circling his tongue around her clit, riding the movements of her hips as she bucked against his face, watching her breasts and eraser tipped nipples lift and roll, listening to her moan and grunt and beg, "don't stop. Please, please don't stop."

He had no intention of stopping. He followed his plan to ride it out until the end, until her body convulsed and her hips jerked and her toes curled. Until her hands closed around a tuft of his hair and her legs involuntarily closed around him and held him there. Until her cries grew in intensity and the volume reached a peak level and then when it was over, all she could do was lay there, limp and staring at the ceiling with a grin a mile wide on her face.

"And that's how we do it," he said, his grin cocky.

She seemed to do her best to lift her head, if only slightly. "Proud of yourself, aren't you?"

"Very. Really. Very. We still doing fine?"

"Oh, baby," she answered, venturing a roll to her side, where he'd climbed up and laid next to her, his lips already on her again. "I am more than fine."

"Grab some water. You sound parched." He nodded his head toward the bottles on the nightstand, just over her shoulder. "And grab one of those-you know what? You're weak. Nevermind.”

"You're really feeling yourself," Shelby said, giggling. JC sat up and reached over her, picked up two bottles and a square package and came back to rest beside her. He handed her one but she pushed it away and sat up.

"What? What's wrong?"

Shelby glanced at him with fire in her eyes and a teasing smile. "Nothing. Everything's right, for once."

JC was never much for foreplay and teasing. As much as he dished it out, if he was hard, he was ready. Shelby was the one that liked to play, to drag it out, to tease him to hell and back. Not this time. This time, she went straight for the jugular, moving down his body with a speed he'd never seen before. He almost didn't know what was going on, until one hand was wrapped around the base of his dick and the tip of him was in her mouth, being bathed by her tongue. In one fluid movement, she sank down onto him, his dick wrapped in warmth and wetness and pressure. Such good pressure.

He relaxed against the mattress, letting her work, his head lolled to the side, trying to watch but feeling his eyelids slide closed. The feeling was magic and ecstasy and elation, all in one big jumble, piling one onto another. Shelby knew what she was doing, and for the first time, JC was a little bit grateful for her past. What she'd been through in the years before she met him had created an incredibly skilled lover. He rather enjoyed reaping the benefits, especially when she could sense that he was on the edge and could feel him throbbing and pulsing.

He grunted, his hips moving on their own, thrusting into her mouth. Her eyes flicked up and caught his gaze. She smiled around him.

"Shit. Lookin' at you, your mouth full of my dick. Driving me crazy. Make me come, mama. Take me there."

Never one to turn down a request, Shelby obliged and increased the pressure. Her tongue swirled and her hand stroked and her mouth sucked, until his teeth clenched and his body curled and a long, loud, tortured grunt poured forth. Shelby made a sound, sort of a whimper but kind of a moan, watching him as he came, holding him in the warmth of her mouth until he was spent.

JC collapsed against the mattress, wiping sweat from his brow, heaving deep breaths. Then reached for her, pulling her up by her arms until they were face to face, then rolling them so he was on top again. 

"I can't wait," he said, laughing, scrounging around the bed for the square package he'd tossed aside when she made her move.  "I think you're laying on it."

"On what?"

"The condom. Sit up."

"You put me here. Now I have to move?"

"Shelby-Just... I don't know why I'm arguing with you" Shelby giggled as he practically picked her up off of the bed, retrieved the condom package and laid her back down.  "You're a bad girl. I just want you to know that." He ripped the package open and pulled out the latex ring and sheath, tossing pieces of wrapper in either direction around them and rolling it on.

She laughed, watching him, her eyes full of evil mischief. "A bad girl? Oh nooooo. I think you should teach me a lesson."

JC looked up from his task, his eyes focused on her. "Like I said. I plan on it."

"I'm shakin' in my... socks," she said, kicking a leg up.  

"Good," JC replied, climbing over her, moving her legs so he could get between them. "Because this is gonna be one memorable fuck, right here."

Shelby started to laugh, but it cut off as soon as JC lowered himself onto her, capturing her lips in his teeth, sucking on her bottom lip. She moaned, grabbing his face and kissing him back, playing with his tongue, volleying the kiss back and forth with feverish intensity. He dipped a hand between them and guided himself to her, his body reacting with a shudder at the sensation of being surrounded by her. Her back arched and her hips bucked, bringing him further inside. Her legs tightened, holding him to her as he began to move inside her.

Slowly at first, and then with building passion, they moved together as if they were one being. Joined at the mouth, bodies pressed against each other so closely their sweat mingled, hips thrusting into one another, legs tangled in each other. Shelby was the first to break the kiss, giving way to moans and random mutterings.

"I can't hear you," he said, moving above her, their bodies slapping together with a flat, smacking sound in perfect rhythm. "Tell me."

"Shit," was all she said. All she seemed to be able to utter, between pants and groans.

"That's it? Shit?"

"Shit!" She screamed, writing beneath him."You feel good, so fucking good to me. I missed this."

"That's more like it," he said, laughing, scooting up a little and then resuming his thrusthrusthrust into her. "You feel good, baby. This is how it should be, you know? You and me. Don't make me go without this again, okay?"

"Okay. Yes. Just... oh my GOD!" Shelby convulsed, her hips clenching, her nails digging into the skin of his shoulders. "Uhm!! Right there, baby. Right there. Please. Oh... God! Please make me come!"

"What do you think I'm doing up here?"

"Fuck," she said, with a laugh that turned into a desperate whinemoanwhimper. "Make me come. Please please please…."

Shelby was panting, heaving, glistening with sweat, her little body working hard. She unhooked her legs from around him and spread them wide, arching her body up to his, grabbing his hips and pulling him to her.

"Yeah!” She yelped. “Right there! Right there. Fuck yeah, that's right on my clit. Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't......shit! Unh! Yes! Fuck!"

JC felt like his dick had just been shoved into a clamp that was systematically tightening over and over. He watched the wave roll over Shelby like the tide, up and down and back up again. Every time it rolled, she clenched and yelped and jerked, milking him until the siren song of orgasm lured him in as well. Their cries and moans and grunts and laughs mixed in the air until there was nothing but sighs and whimpers and gulps. JC lay on top of a sedate Shelby, who appeared to be asleep except for the telltale smile on her face.

"Memorable indeed," she mumbled, without even opening her eyes.

"I told you. And there's more where that came from."

"Oh. Goody. I can't tell you how happy that makes me." Her eyes opened slowly, the brown in them glazed over."How about that water you offered and then didn't let me drink?"

He laughed. "Oh, nuh uh. Not my fault. You refused the water, trying to get at me. All hot in the ass over there." He sat up, retrieving the bottles of water that had rolled onto the floor amid all the activity, then laid beside her.

"I'll show you who's hot in the ass." She pointed at him, sitting up cross-legged on the bed, taking the open bottle that he offered and gulping down half of it.

“So… what do you think, Miss Shelby?”

She laughed. “Don’t call me that. Ever.”

“Okay,” he said, wincing at his flub. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I don’t want any reminder of Lucas or… anything… to mess this up. This is perfect, right here.”

“I agree. I think we should try to keep it perfect, you know?”

“Yeah. I know.”

“And…”

“And…” Her head rolled toward him, her eyes upward to meet his. “If you still want to make this official… I want that, too. Badly.”

He was both pleased and disappointed at the same time. It’ll come, he told himself. Be patient. It’ll come.