Chapter 10
Yanking
her arm away from the grip that was on it, she yelled back, “NO! I’m fine, dammit. I just need to get OUT of here.”
“You
are NOT fine and I will not have you make a scene in the airport like this.
Now, we’re going to the lounge and you’re checking your sugar.”
Nick
had just arrived back from
“Nick,
I’m fine. It’s probably up a little, but I’m not gonna check it here.”
“Then
do something to get yourself together. You were a total bitch to AJ and Sarah,
and I don’t even want to think about the shit you were giving people
when our flight was delayed. Come on…it’s right here.”
Ciara grudgingly followed Nick into the VIP
lounge, knowing he was right. She hated this. It was worse than PMS. She could
feel herself losing control and absolutely could not stop herself. She slid
into the booth across from him and offered a somewhat apologetic glance. The
anger in her eyes hadn’t left yet, nor would it until she was a bit more
balanced.
“We
need two waters please…immediately.”
“Water…sure…fine.”
The waiter rolled his eyes at the free order mumbling on his way back to the
bar. “Big pop star comes in and all he can summon up is a water. Immediately.
Asshole.”
Nick
sat patiently watching Ciara stab her finger with a
lancet and squeezing the blood out to a large drop. He held the monitor for
her, as her hands were shaking a bit too much and helped her get the blood onto
the test strip. Now she was totally embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Nick…what a great
welcome home, huh?”
“It’s
okay, Ci. I know you can’t help it, but damn…you get
so nasty. And I’m too tired to be real patient. I’m sorry, too.”
The
waiter finally returned with the bottled water, practically throwing it on the
table. Nick caught his bottle as it rolled toward the edge of the table. “Well,
Jeez. I was going to order something to eat. Forget it now.”
“I
can’t eat now anyway, Nick. Can we just grab something on the way home?”
Nick
stopped short. Home? Whose home? Their home? Did she mean that or was it a
slip? He smiled and finally took a deep breath, thankful to be home…which was
wherever Ciara was. That much was obvious. “Yeah, we
can. How high is it?” He looked down at the monitor, almost afraid of what he’d
see.
“Um,
378 and I feel better. God knows how high it was.”
“378!?
Ciara…what the hell?”
“Nick,
you know this. It just happens. No matter what I do, I cannot keep it under
control.”
“Are
you getting a cold or something? It goes up then, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,
and with stress and because it hasn’t in awhile and likes to keep me guessing.
Sometimes my meds cause it to react differently on any given day. You know the
routine.”
“Yeah,
I guess I do. I just forgot. Do you need me to open your bottle?”
“If
you don’t mind, yeah. I’m dying of thirst.”
Nick
cracked the seal, never taking his eyes off of her. She was so nonchalant about
it all, and he could never quite understand it. Well, she was until it was time
to talk relationships. Then it became her weapon. Or should he say her shield?
Yes, her shield. The shield that kept everyone away from her deepest heart.
The
couple sat silently as Ciara downed two bottles of
water, finally feeling sated. “Okay, let me check it one more time before we
go. I think it’s better. And Nick?”
“Yeah,
babe?”
“Thanks
for not giving me too much shit. You’re right. I can’t help it. But, I still
need a swift kick in the ass when I get that bad.” She picked a new finger and
quickly poked it, drawing the blood to the surface with a squeeze.
“No
problem. How often has this been happening lately?” He hated this. Totally
hated this. She didn’t deserve this life.
“Actually,
not too much. I think I ate too much breakfast and then forced myself to eat
lunch knowing you’d be late. I did it to myself this time.” She was able to put
the drop of blood on the strip herself this time, and stuck the strip into the
monitor pushing the start button.
“Well
stop it!” Nick chuckled and leaned into the monitor again, hoping the number
would be a bit more normal. “159. That’s better anyway.”
“Yep.
I’m ready to go home.”
“Um,
yeah…” He ran a hand through his hair, not sure how to ask this. “Which home?”
“Well,
I figured you’d wanna settle at your place. I’d like to accompany you…at least
tonight, if that’s okay?”
“Yeah,
that’s what I was hoping you’d say.” He slung his arm over her shoulder, hiking
his bag up over the other one. “Just feels funny to have you call it ‘home’ is
all.”
“Well,
yeah…I guess it is. For tonight anyway, it’s home.”
******~~~~~~******~~~~~~
What
he wanted to do was strip her clothes off of her right inside the door and make
mad passionate love in the foyer. However, he knew from experience that a spell
like she’d just had typically left her physically exhausted. The lovemaking
would have to wait. Dammit. Instead, he ordered in,
hoping the food wouldn’t set her blood sugar on end again.
Settling
out on the deck, they finally got to talk coherently. Nick brought out one of
his sweatshirts for her, as it was beginning to get chilly in the evenings by
the water. “Here…thought you might need this.”
“Thanks.”
She pulled the warm shirt over her head breathing in his scent that she knew so
well. “So, how was
“Yeah,
it really is. They are wild like everyone else when you’re offstage and in
between songs, but as soon as you open your mouth to talk or sing, they
completely shut up. It’s great.”
“Too
bad they can’t learn that here.”
“Yeah,
no kidding. We work our asses off to get the harmonies right and no one hears
it anyway.”
“Awwww…you poor overworked baby.” She leaned in and patted
his hand like an old woman consoling her grandchild.
“Oh
shut up. We got new games though!”
Ah…there
was that little boy. Damn him. “Yeah, I saw that…heard you never left your
room.”
“Nope.
For once. Missed everything though. What a dork.” He took her hand in his, just
enjoying the cool breeze blowing in from the bay. “Wait a minute…how do you
know all this stuff?”
“The
internet, my dear. How do you think I’ve kept up with you over the years? I
even knew of your shenanigans from last year thanks to the internet.”
“Oh
nice…don’t believe everything you read.”
“I
don’t, dear. I wouldn’t be able to take it.”
“That
bad, huh?”
“Yeah,
Nick. That bad.”
He
decided to leave it there. Sometimes ignorance was bliss…both ways. “Do you
have any of that stuff from
“Yep,
but it’s at my house.”
He
looked at her with puppy dog eyes…pouting. Pathetic. “Can we go see?”
“You
wanna go back to my place to see probably 10 minutes worth of videos?”
“Yep.
We can just stay there over night if you want.”
“Okay,
boss…whatever you want.”
~~~~~~******~~~~~~******
“Okay,
here’s the first one. Was this a radio interview or what?”
Nick
started watching the video, smiling at the memory. “Yeah, but it was weird.”
“It
looks weird…like you’re on display or something.”
“Exactly…”
He kept watching it, intrigued as she had been at his change in demeanor as the
line of fans moved along in the video. “See, you can tell I’m starting to get
annoyed by it all.”
“Yep.
You didn’t hide it well, dear.”
“Well,
no…I mean, damn. I felt like a fucking lion at the zoo. They passed those
people by so fast and they were truly happy to just LOOK at us. You’d have
thought we gave out hugs to everyone the way they were freaking out. It bugged
the hell out of me. I didn’t like it at all.”
“No,
I can’t imagine you did. Hey, you were online with fans before Thanksgiving
weren’t you?”
“Yeah,
went to the chat on our site. I don’t think I’m going back. They are just…I
dunno. I don’t get it.”
“I
heard it got ugly. You can’t let that stuff get to you, Nick.”
“Normally
I don’t, but for some reason I just lost it. Maybe it was a combination of
things. The Japanese fans gawking at me like a zoo animal and the American fans
acting like I have no feelings at all. Like I belong to them. I didn’t agree to
that when I signed the dotted line.”
“No,
but they did.”
“Huh?”
“Somehow,
they think they own you. And it’s not mal-intent. They just…they care about you
in a way that they don’t even understand. They don’t know you, but yet they
have a love for you.”
“So
why do they talk about my dick like it’s their personal property?”
“Cuz
they want it to be.” Ciara had to laugh at that. So
did Nick. She leaned in for a kiss…the first real one since he’d hopped onto
the plane for
“I
knew it. I’m just a piece of meat to you.” He pulled her onto the desk chair,
making her straddle him. “I missed you, Ci…”
“I
missed you too, Nick.” She leaned down and captured his lips in hers, giving a
little suck on his bottom lip as she ran her hands through his hair. It never
ceased to amaze her how soft and silky it was, like touching it for the first
time, every time. Just like tasting his lips. So soft, so…so Nick.
They
moaned in unison, just enjoying the reunion of their mouths and anxious for the
reunion of their bodies and souls. His hands worked from a slow massage of her
back, to a more forceful massage of her breasts, tweaking her nipples between
his fingers. She ground her hips into his in response, happily feeling his
response beneath her.
Not
wanting to waste another minute, Ciara pulled away
from the kiss and slipped his sweatshirt and then her t-shirt up over her head.
He smiled at the sight of her lace bra and erect nipples trying to be free of
the fabric. “So beautiful…” He lowered his head to her chest, capturing one
nipple gently between his lips, flicking it with his tongue through the bra.
She
sucked in air at the sensation he could bring with just his tongue and tried to
gather the hem of his shirt as he worked on her other breast and unclasped the
front fastener of her bra. Finally succeeding, she slowly brought it up over
his head giggling at the goose bumps that followed the cotton as it grazed over
his stomach and chest. “Cold?”
“Getting
warmer.” He kissed each shoulder as he slid the straps of her bra off over
them, letting it fall to the ground as he went to work on her now bare skin. He
was so gentle and then suddenly, he’d bite or pull and cause her to gasp at the
pleasure and pain combined. She lifted his head kissing his forehead, eyelids,
cheeks and nose, ending in a searing kiss to his lips. As their tongues danced,
she tried to stand to remove her pants. It didn’t work.
She
had to giggle. “Why is it we always end up laughing when we do this, huh?” She
started to unbuckle her jeans, but he stopped her, wanting to do it himself.
“I
dunno…I love to hear you laugh, though…anytime.” He deftly undid her pants and
slid them over her hips, bringing her panties along as well. Leaning in to kiss
her stomach and dip his tongue into her navel, he pulled her closer, between
his legs, almost making her kneel between them on the chair.
“Anytime?
You sure?”
Mumbling
against her flesh, “Yeah, anytime.”
“Mmmmm,
okay.” He could hear the flirtation in her voice and knew he was going to be
eating his words in just a few moments. She always knew how to twist his words,
especially in the heat of passion.
She
worked her hands down his shoulders and arms, running her fingers over a tattoo
or two causing more goose bumps to appear. Before he knew it, she was
unbuckling his pants, having him lift his hips for her to get them down and
off. She knelt before him as she pulled them off his feet and eventually was
staring straight at…yeah. And she giggled. “Like now? You like to me laugh
now?”
He
groaned and brought a finger up to lift her chin. Looking firmly in her eyes,
but unable to hide the laughter in his own, he shook his head. “No. No laughing
now. I’ll go find a fan to appreciate me.”
“They
wouldn’t know what to do with you if they had you, my dear.” And that was her
final word as she leaned in and licked the tip of his penis and slowly rolled
her tongue around its head. He could no longer speak either, totally taken with
the magic she was doing with her lips and tongue. But then…when her mouth
totally engulfed his length…he could barely stay planted on the chair. Her
tongue slid up and down the vein as her lips and mouth massaged the whole of
him. He pushed his hips up into her mouth, not wanting to make her
uncomfortable, but totally unable to control his movements. And she could take
it, and she did, occasionally moaning at his excitement and the excitement it
was bringing her to please him.
Her
hands were busy as well, one forming a ring with her finger and thumb just
below her lips on his length and the other slowly massaging his balls. His
hands went from a firm grip on the sides of the chair, to running furiously
through her curls, to running through his own hair.
“Ci…oh my God!” He lifted his hips one more time, afraid he
was going to end this all too soon, but she quickly squeezed at his base,
keeping his orgasm at bay…for the time being. He took the opportunity and
gently pulled her head up, allowing her to kiss his stomach and chest as she
worked her way back to his lips, now swollen with desire.
Their
lips met passionately while their hands traveled all over one another’s body.
Finally his fingers found her center and he slowly slid them in between her
lips and into her warmth. She pulled back from his kiss, looking deep in his
eyes. This was where she got so confused. His eyes. She could block him out
until…until she met them. Then, it was over. He was hers and she was his. There
was no denying it, whether she wanted it or not.
“Come
here, Ci…have a seat.” His fingers mimicked his
words, as curled forward inside her, massaging her sensitive spot. Slowly, he
removed his fingers and brought them to her lips, that were smiling at the
innocent sounding request. She took his fingers in her mouth, tasting herself
and straddled his legs again. She took hold of him between her legs and slowly
lowered herself onto him as she sucked on his fingers, equaling the motion. His
fingers made their way back to her breasts as the lovers moaned at the union,
sitting still for a moment, just simply enjoying the initial sensation…the
feeling of fulfillment it brought. Sighing, Ciara
rested her head on his shoulder and their slow, rhythmic dance began.
His
hands guided her hips, while her arms simply wrapped around his neck, almost as
a friendly hug. This combination of intimacy and friendship was special to
them…it brought them comfort they could never find with anyone else. Peace they
had never known. Slowly, Ciara kissed her way up his
shoulder, spending some time on his neck nibbling and sucking at the tender
skin, following up with his ears. She spun the studs around with her tongue and
smiled as he whispered her name in reply.
She
pulled back and found his eyes again as their speed increased. And in his eyes
she would stay as he continued to move her up and down, bringing her to her
intense peak. As her muscles contracted around him, he too moaned her name as
he shuddered and filled her insides with his love. Again, their heads rested on
one another’s shoulders as the lovers and friends enjoyed the peace that only
such intensity can bring.
*****~~~~~~******~~~~~~
And
morning came. And Nick was there. Afternoon came. And Nick was there. They went
out on his boat for a time, just to enjoy some more solitude. But then, it was
evening. And reality came.
“Okay,
I need to head off to work. You’re going home?”
“Yep…you
gonna be okay? You’ve already been up since 9.”
“Yeah,
I’ll be okay. We can just sleep tomorrow?”
“Sounds
good. Want me to pick you up in the morning?”
She
stopped putting on her last touch of make-up and looked at his reflection in
the mirror. She worked in the pediatric unit. Nick Carter showing up may not be
a good idea. “Um, if you want. I can just wait outside.”
“No,
I want to come up to your floor, to see you really working. I miss seeing you
with patients.”
“Nick,
I work in pedes…they’ll recognize you.”
“So,
maybe that’s a good thing. If you don’t want me to, just say so.”
“No,
no…okay, if you’re sure it’s alright, then I get off at 7. 8th floor.”
~~~~~******~~~~~~******
Nick
had gone out dancing that night. He was beat and didn’t know how in the world
she was still on her feet after the day they’d had plus a 12 hour shift. He
turned off the ignition of his car and made his way into the hospital. Pulling
the bill of his cap lower, he walked directly to the elevators. So far so good.
As
the door opened, he was taken aback at the lounge area. Yeah, he knew it was
pedes, but…seeing
“Can
I help you?”
“Yeah,
I’m looking for Ciara…Ciara
Watkins.”
***
